A Million Miles From Home
by GreenSpacePigs
Summary: Under Construction. When Luffy falls overboard during a storm on the Grandline, he wakes up on the shores of a pretty normal place. That is until he finds out about this place's little secret and how it could determine the fate of their world... and his.
1. A Million Miles From Home

**A Million Miles From Home**

A/N: The beginning might not be much, but I promise the story gets better. Just have some patience with it ok? Also, this is not a self-insertion. I don't want anyone getting confused in the later chapters. The first person POV is the characters thinking to themselves from their POV, it's not me. Thank you and enjoy the story.

Prologue

"Sanji! Tie those ropes tight!" Nami ordered is as loud of a voice as she could muster. "I want my trees in top shape and I don't want them blowing away!"

"Yes Nami-san!" Sanji told her with a smile, and then he turned to his side and looked at Zoro... the smile fading immediately with a look of pure annoyance, "Tie the other side! I'll handle it here!" he informed, immediately going from ladies man to drill sargent.

"Hey! If I let go of this side, you'll get pulled over!" He yelled back, "Stupid Love Cook!"

"Moron!" Sanji hissed back, "Just go! I can handle this!"

The Merry Go was in the heart of a typhoon, Zoro and Sanji were trying to tie the orange trees with ropes so they wouldn't get blown away by the wind. Nami had pampered these trees and treated them like treasure, if they lost them, or if anything bad happened, she'd never forgive them. The funny thing was, the storm had come out of nowhere. Well, of course things like that happened all the time on the Grand Line... but this was different. Nami couldn't even sense this one.

Upon looking over, Sanji noticed that Usopp was stupidly running around, scared to death or just being retarted he didn't know. The cook then checked up on Zoro, who released the ropes and helped Luffy hoist the anchor. Sanji nodded, if the ship took in any more water they could all drown, and Sanji didn't know if Nami could swim or not. He could see Vivi passing them by in a hurry.

As soon as Sanji moved his foot, he noticed Usopp rolling around while trying to hold a barrel down, "T_hat idiot!_" Sanji hissed to himself.

That's when lightning struck. In a brown and red blur, the little reindeer clung to Zoro's waist screaming and crying. "Chopper! There's no time for this! Get off!" The first mate irritatibly hollared as he tried to wiggle free of the little doctor's strong grasp. Sanji finally managed to pull down the ropes that fastened the trees and tied it to a few poles that were readied from earlier. Noting Zoro's _distressing _situation, the cook made a mental note to blackmail him later.

That's when it started. A roaring worse than any thunder heard along the Grand Line. It took a mere moment for one of the crew members to note, or in this case skriekingly identify, where this roaring was comming from.

"Tidal Wave!!" Nami cried as every one of the crew members turned to stare in horror. They all knew that there was no way the Merry Go was going to dodge this one.

"Grab on to something!!" Zoro roared over the thundering arrival of the wave.

The wave slammed the Merry Go with such force, the entire ship submerged for a split second before bursting out of the sea, into the air, and with a 'smack' landing back into the water.

"We've got to get out of this storm!" Sanji cried over the wind and needle like rain.

And as if God had heard him, the wind calmed and it just... stopped.

Zoro raised an eyebrow and glared suspiciously at Sanji. "Do you believe in a higher force?" he asked.

Sanji turned to the glaring swordsman and snorted. "Don't be rediculious Cabbage-Head." he stated lighting a slightly soggy cigarette. "It was just a coincidence that it was nearing the end of the storm."

"Whatever you say Princess." Zoro stated simply as he turned and walked off.

"I'm off to make dinner. I'd suggest being nicer unless you want a severe case of food poisoning..." Sanji threatened.

Then it was quiet. Too quiet... like something was missing.

"Hey guys..." Usopp started, hesitasting to make sure neither Sanji nor Zoro were going to attack him. "Isn't Luffy usually excited about dinner?"

Zoro paused. "It is a bit quiet." he muttered.

"Hey Luffy!" Sanji shouted. "I'm going to make dinner!" and then as an afterthought sure to get the captain's attention "With lots of meat!"

Yet the silence lingered.

"Luffy?!" Zoro shouted.

No answer.

Instantly the crew scattered and searched the Merry Go from deck to store room.

"Has anybody found him?" Usopp asked once he rearrived on deck panting.

"No." All the others stated simutaniously.

"Ok, lets think." Nami stated logically. "When did we last see him?"

Zoro rubbed his chin. "He was helping me to hoist the anchor up... then he left to see if anyone needed him to do anything..." His eyes widened considerably.

"Then..?" Nami slightly urged Zoro to continue.

"That's when you yelled Tidal Wave." Zoro said.

Nami quickly caught on. "He must not have heard the warning..."

"And was washed overboard." Finished Sanji.

Then there was more silence before Zoro panicked. "Luffy can't swim! He'll drown!" he cried as he ran to the side of the ship and without hesitation dove into the water. Sanji and Usopp glanced eachother before following suit. Nami was the only one left standing there, calculating how long Luffy could have floated. But it was no use, she couldn't concentrate.

Their captain was gone.

ooooooooooo

I was walking home from theatre rehersal. The director, Mrs. Kelly, my god she could be a slave driver. All I wanted to do was get home and get a good nights sleep for once.

_Liar! _My conscience seethed.

I sighed as a light breeze played with my hair. I knew that already, I guess convincing myself wasn't going to work either. I then switched to plan B and desided to kick the voice in the groin the next time it brought up a smart ass comment. Stopping at a overpass, I looked out over the bay. The sun had turned the sea orange with a golden tint. It was breath taking. But... something wasn't right. There was a spot of red that kept obscuring the perfect image... it was forcing me to look at it!

As it drifted closer, I noticed with alarm and horror, that it was a body! I threw my bag on the ground and stood on the railing. I remember a random thought drifting into my mind that went. "Yes, you stupid drivers, I'm commiting suicide!" before I dove off.

Not only did I cut my leg on a rock, I had a nice migrane comming fourth from the drop off the overpass. I quickly searched for the body. 'Oh God!' I thought. 'What if it died? What if I'm not on time?!'

I thankfully ended up finding it and dragging it to shore. Leaning over it, I figured out the body was a guy. Red vest and blue jean shorts... torn up pretty bad. Black hair and for being thin, he had muscles. 'I wonder what happened to him...' I checked for a pulse. His heart was beating and he was breathing. I did a silent cheer that he was alive... but suddenly, the seriousness of the situation dawned on me. It was getting dark. Not only was I bound to get eaten up my mosquitos', my mom was gonna flip out when she seen the blood staining my clothing and a new hospital bill. The guy I had just saved had no form of ID what so ever - no wallet or anything! I didn't know where he lived, his age, if he had any medical problems, a phone number, not even a name... nothing!

But he looked familiar...

I sat there long after dark before he finally came around. He sat up... he had amazing eyes. I mentally smacked myself! Here I was, sore, bleeding, cold, hungry, tired... and drooling over a guy I knew nothing about...

He looked around with a confused look and sniffed the air. I was confused for the most part and was about to make myself known when he looked right at me. I froze under the intensity of his gaze and said the first thing that came to mind:

"Good... you're alive."

The guy observed me for a moment and raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked grinning.

I could feel my eyes widen in confusion. "You were face down in the water! I dove in and pulled you out!" I cried. 'Are you that dumb?' my conscience screamed. How big of a ditz was this guy? I then realised that light did travel faster than sound... they look bright untill they speak...

"Well, I'm alive now." He said grinning. "So, what's your name?" he asked me standing up.

The sooner I was out of his intense gaze- "I'm Sarah. Where do you live? I can call you a cab and-"

"What's a cab?" He asked as he scratched his head. "Is it one of those shinny moving magick things? Like the ones over there?" He asked, pointing toward the overpass going across charlotte harbor. It was very small in the distance but you could still see the cars. Then... what he'd said sunk in. I couldn't hold the urge back anymore and smacked my forehead... hard. "What planet are you from? You don't know what a cab is?"

He shook his head. "Nope!"

I seriously couldn't get the nagging feeling away from me that I'd seen him somewhere before.

My eyebrows narrowed in confusion. He extended a hand to me and I accepted it. After I was standing, I realised how much pain I was actually in. I bit my tounge as my leg almost gave out. He looked up at the overpass I dove off of and whistled. "That's one huge bridge! And it's all shinny too!" He looked at me again and I could feel myself shying away. 'C'mon damn you! Stop being such a wuss!'

"Are you hurt? Because that's a pretty long drop." he said, then he noticed the concentrated look I had on my face and the blood staining the sand. He lifted me up off the ground. My cheeks suddenly burned and I cursed them.

"I'll find you some help." He said as he began walking. I had no choice, oviously, but to stick with him. "What school do you go to?" I asked, trying to strike up a good conversation.

He frowned. "School? I'm a pirate!"

I started laughing at this point. At least he had a good sense of humor. "No, seriously what school do you go to? Or are you new in town?"

"I am serious." He said innocently. The innocense in his voice caused me to freeze and stop giggling. Reality sunk in and my brain froze. "You're a pirate... for real?"

"Yep! Which reminds me - what island is this? I was seperated from my crew during a storm on the Grand Line."

Everything clicked at that point. I knew why I had the feeling I'd seen him before. One Piece... the manga I had recently started reading... I was being carried home by Monkey D. Luffy. My eyes widened considerably. It wasn't possible... it couldn't be! How? Why? When? So many questions flew through my brain... I didn't even realise it when he stopped walking.

Noticing this, I knew I had to explain it to him. There was no simple way to do it... so I shut my eyes, bit my bottom lip (Like I always did when I was nervous or thinking... well at least trying too), and took a deep breath... "What?" he asked, the grin slowly fading from his face.

"I don't know how you got here..." I whispered. I knew right then that if he wasn't holding me, I would have collapsed and possibly popped my knee out of place. "What? What's the matter?" he asked.

I looked up at him. "You won't find your crew here, Luffy." I said.

Ok, that was a start. Keep going... c'mon, you can do it...

He grinned. "Hey! You know my name!" then he frowned. "Wait... what do you mean I won't find my crew here? Did something happen to them? Am I on the wrong island?"

I could tell he was starting to panic... so now I had to finish it.

"Luffy." I sighed. "You're in the wrong world."

There. I said it.

He was silent for a moment. I was wondering if he'd even understood what I was saying or what it meant when all of a sudden...

"WHAAAAAAT?!" he cried as he fell butt first to the ground, me landing ungracefully on him.

I sighed again, messaging the bridge of my nose while laying flat on my back. "The bad part about all of this is first off, you have no money, no place to stay... and the fact that I have no idea how you got here or how I can send you back." I looked at him, tightening my lips in pity. "I can however, help you blend in untill we find some answers." I offered. Hey, it was the least I could do. "C'mon stretchy, lets get you cleaned up. We've got alot of work to do." I urged.

Luffy then laughed. "I guess I have no choice." he felt for his hat... which was gone also. He paniked. "WHERE'S MY HAT?!"

"I don't know. Perhaps your crew has it?" I suggested as my stomach rumbled. I realised I haden't eaten anything since about 10 in the morning. School lunch wasn't exactly what I'd call a meal. "I'm starving. What do you say we go find something to eat?"

"MEAT!" The pirate cried as he picked me up again and started running.

"Slow down!" I cried when suddenly we came to a sudden hault. "Where too... Lu-ffy?" my smile faded.

Luffy had a look of anger apon his face and was staring straight ahead. I gulped, his eyes were very eerie... they demanded respect yet showed utter kindness and loyalty. However, the look of anger apon his face made me shutter. I then looked to the problem and gasped. 3 jerks were abusing a puppy. The poor thing was whimpering and crying...

I tried... in vain mind you, to stop myself from crying. I couldn't do it. I started crying right infront of Luffy. Memories flashed through my mind of a very bad christmas when I was little and I shuddered.

"No, not those memories..." I muttered, quickly wiping my tears away.

Luffy suddenly set me down. "Stay here." he said, glaring across the street. I sighed, like I could go anywhere anyways...

"Hey! You!" Luffy yelled over to them, they stopped.

"Hey, stay out of this you little shit!" said the first one. He was wearing a yellow and black checkered bandana and black ripped up jeans with a yellow tank top.

My mind screamed warning when the second one pulled out a pistol. The only thing he had on were some blue jean shorts. His bright blonde hair mesmorized me and for a split second I thought Gage was standing there... but then I realized that Gage would never do that and that Gage lived in Cape Coral. I gulped as the third one made eye contact with me. I squinted, I could have sworn I'd seen him before. He was really tall with black hair and a pentagram burned into his arm. He was dressed like a goth.

"Say your prayers. I'm comming over!" Luffy growled.

And the light turned red. He cracked his knuckles and the rest was a blur of movement. The next thing I saw were the three men laying in a heap on the ground... and Luffy walking over holding a small golden retirever puppy, happily laughing as it licked his face.

ooooooooooo

Sarah sat in class and sighed as she rested her head in her hand. 'Yep,' She thought. 'That's when he first arrived. It's been almost 4 months and still, we're no closer to figuring anything out than we were before.'

She glanced at the time. 10 minutes to go. Geometery was so annoying. All the teacher was talking about was find the area of this, the perimeter of that, A1/2Base times the Height...

'When the hell are we going to use any of this? 64 thousand dollar answer - never! Unless you're a brain surgeon or a scientist, which I'm not going to be any so I don't need any of it.' she thought in annoyance.

Sarah looked out the window at the blue sky and chirping birds. Lots of sun and a gentle breeze... the perfect breeze... such a good day for the beach. 'Perhaps I'll take Luffy to the BBQ later on, he'll like all the free meat. And speak of the devil... there he is.'

There was Luffy alright... with his own fan club of cheerleaders following him. Sarah's eyes narrowed, Luffy had no clue what they wanted. She chuckled lightly, admitting to herself that the clothes she'd helped him choose made him look good. They'd chosen a variety of colors for him, but today he wore a white tank top with a black button up shirt (currently unbuttoned) and black shorts with his sandals. Around his neck was a shell necklace. She smiled at the memory of him complaining about not having his hat to wear with it. She considered that perhaps his crew did have it.

Suddenly, the bell rang. The class let out a cheer as thirty something students piled out the door. Sarah never did figure out how they did it, and she was one of them! She slouched in relief, that happened to be the second from last period of the day. The last was team sports. She smirked evilly, 'Today we're playing dodgeball!'

She jogged over to meet Luffy, who waved in return. She held up a steaming hot package of meat and was about to yell out what it was... but a big lanky form blocked her path, causing her to let out a dangerously low gorwl. 'Mark!'

"Sarah, we need to talk." he said.

"No, we don't." Sarah stated in a stern voice and tried to move around him, he grabbed her arm. "Let go."

"Not untill you hear me out." he said.

'I also know now how annoying his voice is...' her conscience stated.

"And why should I listen to an obsessed coward who lies about everything, hm?" She asked.

Mark leaned down to her height. "Because I have the hunters on my side." he growled in her ear. That made her freeze and tense up. She gritted her teeth together in annoyance and anger. Mark sighed. "I'm sorry. I was an ass and I was wrong. There, happy?"

"Bullshit you are." She growled. "You lie about everything, Mark. Quite frankly, you still are an ass and you still try to be like Gage. News flash stalker-boy, you're not and never will be! I have nothing to say to you and neither does anyone else now fuck off and leave me alone!"

She winced. His grip had tightened to a bruising force. She smirked through her teeth, her pain tolerance was very high. "Listen up." he said, she glared at him. "You have everything. A mother who loves you, friends who care about you... and the looks to kill."

"Oh, please-" Sarah started

"I wanted to take you more than anyone... yet, somehow you managed to foil my plans." he growled, his grip tightened to emphasize his point. Sarah looked around to see if he was causing a scene. If he was, she could use that to her advantange...

Luffy was walking to where they were standing. 'Luffy?' she wondered. 'Why is he comming over here? Is he comming to me or someone else behind me?'

Mark looked in the direction Sarah was looking, but paid no heed to Luffy. After all, the 'new kid' was scrawny anyways right? Mark leaned forward and Sarah leaned back as far as she could. "I'll have you one way or another. I always get what I want." His other hand stroked her lips. Sarah growled and bit at his fingers. He jerked them back quickly.

"That's your problem. Number one, nobody really agrees with the term RAPE. Number two, at the party, you tried to spike my drink and force me to have sex with you. I have the scars to prove it, all I have to do is show the police my back and you will be put away and become someone's girlfriend for a long time, Mark." She had nothing against gays but this was an exception... Sarah took full advantage of it and hit him... hard. "Wait, you'd enjoy that wouldn't you? Because the first thing you and your little boyfriend did when you were dating is butt fuck in the shower!"

Mark raised his hand up and Sarah tensed, preparing for a stinging slap. She closed her eyes and waited.

The hit never came.

ooooooooooooo

I was waiting all day for the bell to ring! School sucks, I really don't see how Sarah can stand this untill she's 17. They don't let you get all the food you want... AND there's always a group of girls following me around. They're annoying, but they're friendly so I can't tell them to go away. I was walking back to class with all those annoying girls following me when the bell rang. It was a perfect timing, I could meet Sarah in the courtyard and she would bring me meat from her second period - a cooking class. My stomach growled loudly and I began drooling in anticipation of the food. She's good enough to become Sanji's assistant... I think...

"I'm so hungry!" I cried out to nobody specifically when Sarah came into view. I smiled and waved when she held up the package. I began to drool again and was about to run over untill this big guy stepped infront of her! At first I thought it was her friend, but then she tried to walk around him and he grabbed her arm. Pretty hard too because he was starting to leave a bruise. He had no right to do that! Sarah's a nice girl and this guy's busy being a jerk to her!

I started walking over to see if she needed any help, when I hear the guy talk about taking her. I'd heard the term before, a while back, but acted like I didn't know what it was so nobody would suspect anything. You know enemies let their guard down if they think you're a ditz and that's when you can read them the best and spot their weakness technique? I use it alot. Anyways, to hear him say that to her made me angry. Then he began feeling her lips... it was making me angry to see this. Now, I was close enough to where I could hear it all as well.

"That's your problem. Number one, nobody really agrees with the term RAPE. Number two, at the party, you tried to spike my drink and force me to have sex with you. I have the scars to prove it, all I have to do is show the police my back and you will be put away and become someone's girlfriend for a long time, Mark." I watched as she grinned evilly. "Wait, you'd enjoy that wouldn't you? Because the first thing you and your little boyfriend did when you were dating is butt fuck in the shower!"

My mind did a back flip as I heard that. Ok, the thing she said was mean... but he tried to do that to her? This guy had gone far enough! He was already bigger than her and now he was trying to... no.

I wasn't gonna let that happen.

Which is why I'm the one who's holding his wrist in a grip hard enough to break it. He is going to die. If not now... later. "Let. Her. Go." I commanded, twisting his wrist around to get my point across. People like him pissed me off, he reminded me of Don Krieg.

You can't just force people to bow down to you, no matter how strong you are. It's just not right.

"Who the fuck are you?" he asked. Yep, I tend to get that alot.

"The name's Luffy, Monkey D., let her go or die."

Mark growled and leaned down so we could both hear him... well, so she could. I can look him in the eye. "Believe me, this isn't over." he threatened as he let her arm go. I released his wrist and he walked away massaging it. I looked over, grinning at Sarah, who stared.

oooooooooooo

Sarah stared. She had never fully realised how intimidating Luffy could be. Then it kicked in. 'He protected me...' Sarah watched as Luffy turned and looked at her.

He was grinning.

'Grinned... HE GRINNED!' Her conscience screamed.

"Leave it to you to grin after something like that..." Sarah stated, releasing the breath she suddenly realised she's been holding. The bell rang, but they didn't care. He gently, Sarah noticed in a suprised sort of way, lifted her arm where Mark had grabbed her. She whimpered as a sharp pain flew up the rest of her shoulder, up her neck, and down her left shoulder blade.

"You're hurt." he said as he stared at the damage done by her ex. Sarah watched as his smile temporarily faded. He glanced her and, knowing he'd been caught, grinned again... bigger the second time. "But don't worry! We'll get you fixed up in no time at all and then we'll kick his butt!" he declared with a fire in his eyes Sarah couldn't help but laugh at.

"It's fine. I'll wrap it up at home." She said. She really didn't want the nurse to call her mom. Seriously, she didn't. Her mom flipped out over the smallest things... kinda like all parents.

"Are you sure? I'm sure there's a doctor around here somewhere..." he whined looking in every direction.

"I just don't want the nurse to call my mom." Sarah said wincing as she put her arm back at her side. "You'll just have to help me during dodgeball."

"Not only that. I'll send him flying and find my way home and you can come see my world! You can meet Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Vivi, Chopper, Usopp... and the rest of my crew. Zoro might scare you at first, but's a really nice guy once you get to know him." he stated in a child like way.

Sarah smiled at that. "That sounds... like a plan!" she said grinning. "Race you to class!" she cried and took off running, books in hand.

"Hey! No fair! You started before me!" he cried running behind her.


	2. Day of the Dead Festival

Chapter 2

Zoro sat in the storage room staring at the wall as if it held a hidden message. It was unusually calm today, no yelling or screaming. Usually, Sanji was yelling at Usopp for lying to his 'Nami-san' or bothering himself for no apparent reason. Or he was kicking Luffy out of the kitchen for stealing meat. Then Nami would try and kill Luffy for trying to get her to make Sanji back off, and then he'd yell at Luffy for waking him up.

Luffy.

That was the reason it was so abnormally quiet. Luffy had been knocked overboard because of that storm. There was no warning, not like there ever was. But this was different. Not even Nami had sensed the thing comming and then it struck. BAM! Just like that. 'That's the Grand Line...' Zoro had tried convincing himself repeatedly, but it didn't work. He was guessing that the crew members were wondering the same thing, especially Nami. It was confusing...

"Hey, Cabbage-Head, lunch." Came the voice that annoyed him the most out of everyone aboard the Merry-Go.

"I'm not hungry, Princess." Zoro snapped. "Now leave me alone, I'm thinking-"

"Well there's a first. If you did that more often then perhaps you'd be of some use around here insted of laying about like a sack of potatoes. Now this lunch is not to go to waste, so get your ass up there and eat or I'll kick your face in shithead..." Sanji retorted.

"Go right ahead and try. Perhaps if you thought alittle further than the length of your dick, you'd stop trying to impress Nami and Vivi and worry about more important matters here." Zoro hissed as he and Sanji glared eachother down. He needed to release some steam anyways...

"Like what?" Sanji snarled, Zoro almost smirked at the vein throbbing on the cooks forehead.

"Like, for one, finding Luffy!" Zoro snapped. "Or for two, figuring out why Nami couldn't sense that storm and why there was no warning what so ever."

"Ok, for one Luffy could be de..." Sanji stopped at the look on the First mate's face and coughed. "... And this is the Grand Line, dumbass, there never is a warning for those type of things! Don't try and blame my Nami, she can't always be right you know-"

Sanji was cut off by a sandal hitting him square in the back of the head and in a split second he was on the floor moaning in pain. Behind him stood Nami with a furious look on her face. "Don't you dare mock my navigating skills!" she hollared. "I am never wrong about those types of things!"

"I'm sorry Nami-san, I'll never say anything of the sort again!" Sanji cried.

Nami sighed. "For once, I agree with Zoro. We have to find Luffy and also find out why and how that storm hit us like that. Cooking fancy meals will only waste food, Sanji. Your cooking for a crew who have all lost the urge to eat." she put her hands on her hips as if daring one of them to prove her wrong.

"But... but..." Sanji stuttered.

"No buts. Save the food, Sanji. I'm too busy trying to navigate this ship back to the area we lost Luffy. Usopp is making repairs to the ship, Vivi is babysitting Chopper. Zoro... well I don't know what he's doing... but we're all too worried about our captain. As are you or else you wouldn't be cooking so much." Nami said.

Sanji sighed. "Yes, Nami-san..." he said, alittle disappointed that she didn't want his food and neither did anyone else. He got up off the floor, dusted himself off, and walked away.

Zoro and Nami stared eachother down, niether of them wanting to break the silence. They both knew that the crew was worried about their captain. Without him, the fun seemed to disappear, the hope seemed to vanish, and the crew seemed to have lost their spirits altogether. They nodded at eachother and Nami walked off. Zoro closed his eyes. 'She's right... everyone's too worried about Luffy. All the work is but a cover up... and when it's done, then what? Luffy, you don't die easily... so you better not have left us so soon. Everyone needs you here... and we won't stop looking till we find you.'

oooooooooo

Dodgeball.

Sarah really didn't care for the game, but today was a BIG exception. It seems that it was them, the juniors, versus the seniors. Mark was a senior... so that's why Sarah was going to play for once. 'Can't throw for shit, but I can catch better than a umpire with a pitcher's fast ball.' She grinned, this was Luffy's first time playing the game. 'Speaking of Luffy... where is he?'

Sarah looked around the gym. Finally, after a few minutes, she found him... and his fan club of girls... including the ones with the shorts up their asses. She sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. She hated them...

While walking over, she caught Mark giving her a stare and Sarah really regretted wearing shorts that day. She glanced Mark then back to the fan club and chose facing the fan club over another encounter with Mark. That says all. She took note of the look of relief Luffy gave her as she walked over. Shaking her head in mock concern, she pushed her way through the girls who protested. However, Sarah was stronger then them so they were easily... ahem, that is, they kindly got out of her way. "Sorry ladies, show's over. Get going." she ordered as they all growled, whined, and sighed, stomping off.

Luffy laughed. "Thanks. I wanna be nice but boy, they sure have big mouths. And they talk loud too!" he said.

Sarah laughed as her friend, Hanna, made her way over. Hanna was chinese and was adopted by an american family from Hong Kong. American name too. Bit of a smartass most of the time, but she was cool once you got to know her. "Damn, he's the regular celebrety now isn't he?" she joked.

"Yep, he's a natural king." Sarah said and winked at Luffy as he grinned.

"So, you think we have a chance of beating their asses?" Hanna asked.

"C'mon, we got me guarding the cone. Have alittle faith would ya?" Sarah said crossing her arms.

Suddenly, the coach split the gym up into teams and explained the rules of dodgeball. Sarah translated in simple terms for Luffy. "Catch the ball or hit someone with the ball, they're out. They hit you or catch your ball, you're out. Hit their cone or make a hoop, our teams back in and it goes the same for them if they hit our cone or make a hoop on this side." she explained quickly, he nodded as she scanned the other side. 'Poor Hanna,' she thought silently, 'she's stuck over there with Mark. Seniors must have been short some players.' Sarah scanned her team for any good players, not quite sure of how good Luffy was. 'Good. We got Ashton and Robby... oooo and Russel too. This should be good. Hmmm... Kyle's over here too... damn, for once I actually feel bad for Mike, he's stuck with Mark too.'

A tapping on her shoulder broke Sarah out of her thoughts. She looked over and saw Kyle standing next to her. "Hey. Get ready, we're about to start." he stated.

Sarah nodded and found Luffy. "Hey, touch the wall till the coach blows the thing around his neck. After that, the game starts. Ready?" she asked as Luffy put his hand on the wall. He nodded with a smile.

"There's Mark." he stated. Mark smiled at her and licked his lips in a mocking way making Sarah shutter. Luffy seemed to notice cause he put his hand on her shoulder and smirked. Not his normal grin, he just smirked and she knew something was going to happen that would cause trouble.

'Hey, if it hurts Mark, I'll join in.' the little voice inside of her head stated. Insert evil laugh here.

Coach blew his whistle and in a flurry of movement the boys ran for the balls lined up in the center of the gym. Luffy, Kyle and Sarah got ready for a show down. All at once balls were flying everywhere. It was a dead even game. Sarah stepped up front to guard the cone... and Mark oviously took that as an oppertunity because he chucked a ball right at her... Sarah ducked backwards, hands shooting out, and she landed in a back bridge before jumping back up. Sarah noted the scowl on Mark's face as he caught another ball and threw it at her, she moved her head to the side and grinned as a ball flew past his face by a hairs width. A well aimed throw by Luffy.

Suddenly, Kyle was hit by one of Mark's balls and was out. Sarah stared as Kyle walked off the battle field. Suddenly, she heard Ashton yell out, "Sarah! Move!"

Sarah looked to her right just as the ball was inches from her face. 'I can't dodge that!'

Sarah stared as Luffy's hand appeared before her face and caught the ball. Luffy was grinning as Mark stormed off in a fit of rage. Sarah let out the breath she had been holding in a long drawn out sigh of relief.

"Is that all? Geez, he can't throw at all. I'll bet you can throw better than he can!" Luffy said grinning.

During the next few games, Mark never came back.

'My bet is that he skipped school in a rage and got laid by whoever.' the little british voice stated. But since he never came back during Team Sports, that's what made it fun, right?

'Luffy was a good player.' Sarah thought as coach told everyone to put the dodgeball's away.

After getting dressed back in normal clothes, Sarah steeled her nerve and walked over to Luffy. "Luffy?" She asked as he turned around. Suprising enough, none of the girls were bothering him like she thought they would be. Then she remembered they were all still changing in the girl's locker room. "There's a huge block party going on later this evening. I wanted to know if you'd like to go with me." He frowned and Sarah froze and started to panic. "T-there will be good music, dancing, a-and free f-food. Lots of games too and... it's on the beach. I know you love the sea and you love free food so..." at his continuing frown, she was about to call it off untill he grinned. "When is it?"

Sarah smiled. "Sunset. We'll walk there ok?" she asked.

Luffy grinned as the final bell rang and they raced off the school campus.


	3. The Hunters

Chapter 3

Nami stared up at the clouds. They had been searching the area where they'd lost Luffy for three weeks now...

With no results.

The ship was almost out of food, they needed to find a port soon but the next one was a weeks sail from their current location. It seemed that the weather had desided to spare them because it had been calm so far. Everyone was on edge though. Usopp was pretty withdrawn, Zoro was... well Zoro. Chopper stayed in his lab and did who knows what. Vivi and herself had spent alot of time talking and you could occasionally hear the loud banging of pots and pans comming from the galley which told everyone that Sanji was out of smokes. They now stayed clear of the kitchen out of fear that a knife would fly through the door and hit them. The only time they saw him was when it was time to eat, then he disappeared again.

The life seemed to have vanished completely. Nobody had any will left... well all except for one: Zoro. He was detirmined to find Luffy and he was the only reason they had stayed there for so long. Zoro refused to believe that Luffy would simply kneel over and die from a mere storm and at first she was reluctant to believe it too. Then her hope vanished slowly, just like everyone elses and soon, nobody bothered to keep an eye out for the pirate captain. Everyone except for Zoro, 'Stubborn bastard.'

Once, they had even tried to lock him up and sail the ship away. That didn't end well for anyone so they tried persuading him and convincing him, but he would not believe them.

There was only one option left... and Nami would make sure it was out into effect tonight at dinner. She sighed again when Sanji announced that dinner was ready. She walked calmly into the galley and took her seat just as everyone else.

The meal was unusually silent. The only sounds came from the scraping of silverwear against plates. Nami glanced Zoro who was eating his dinner just like always while everyone else picked and nibbled. Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes opening and closing. Zoro's eyebrows narrowed and he made eye contact with Nami.

"I'm sorry, Zoro..." Nami whispered as Zoro's eyes rolled into his head and soon he was fast asleep on the ground. "Set sail for the nearest port, we need supplies."

The crew silently got up and walked to their positions.

oooooooooo

Luffy bounced around the small guest house looking for clothes. Thoughts of unlimited free food filled his mind as he got dressed in yet another pair of shorts. Tan shorts, and a black tank top. His flip flops stayed, of course. You see, he had a detirmination in his eyes that wasn't normally there. There was a pool at this block party. Not just any pool... a fresh water pool. Quite literally this meant that Luffy wanted to know if fresh water would cause in him the same weakness that occurs when he falls—or is tossed—into the sea. Would it be exactly the same?

Could he swim in fresh water?

If he could, the night would get a whole lot better. Perhaps Sarah would teach him how to swim? He grinned in anticipation, Sarah was on the swim team at school. She loved the water. If they could both swim, then he could make the night special for her. She'd be happy if he could swim... and they could play games!

That was the real cause of his detirmination. If they could do something where they'd both have fun, then having a block party by the water wouldn't be a complete waste. He felt Sarah was a friend, if he had his crew she would be part of it even, but there was something different about her. He comsidered her to be more than a friend. Family wasn't quite the word, but he couldn't stand it if he lost her. It confused him. He liked the sound of her voice... and was happy when she was.

So, of course he stuck to logical reasoning. If he did something nice, she'd stay around, and he'd be happy all the time.

Which was why, in the first place, he'd agreed to come. It confused him when she asked. She seemed afraid? But he didn't know why she would be - he'd done nothing wrong had he? He'd frowned and got caught up thinking about it and caught the look on her face just in time. He grinned walking out the door and making sure to close it behind him.

He'd find out the answer to his curiosity tonight!

oooooooooooo

Music. People. And the most important thing about a block party - FOOD! It was incredible, Sarah and Luffy had never seen so many people in their lives. Sarah looked around, she knew alot of people at this party. She saw Kyle dancing with some whore. She briefly wondered why he couldn't see what she was really after. Then she wondered if that's why he was with the whore in the first place... They walked through the crowd. Along the way she'd seen almost every person at her school along with a variety of gift shops. She stopped at one that was shaped like a ship and dragged Luffy inside... well tried too but she almost exposed his unique powers to the world. That wouldn't have been a good thing. So, she did things the clever way - she bought a chicken, already cooked, and lured him into the shop with it.

Inside, she gave him the chicken and wandered around. She noticed that there were lots of antiques - from ships even. Sarah gasped as she looked at all the cool stuff, but something caught her attention. Locked away inside a display case was a straw hat with a red band around it. Her jaw dropped, Shanks's hat! She ran over and kneeled before the case. The hat... the one he gave Luffy... was inches away from her hands. She searched for a price tag and, seeing there was none, called the shop keeper over. "Excuse me, sir? How much is that hat?" she asked, pointing to the straw hat.

"Sorry, miss. The hat isn't for sale."

"What?" Sarah all but screamed. Quick, white lie! "But that hat belongs to my grandpa!"

"Got any proof of it?"

"Well... no..." she said, hope draining.

"Then I can't give you that hat." he stated, stuck his nose up at her, and walked off. His attitude almost brought tears to her eyes. She couldn't stand people like him! Suddenly, something evil broke into her brain. 'Fine!' the little voice stated, her anger growing. 'If he won't give me what's rightfully my friends, then I'll take it!'

She searched the shop for anything else of intrest... secretly waiting till the shop keeper left the counter. She had noted earlier that this was the older part of town. There were no security cameras. Finally, her chance came. The shop keeper left to take a bathroom break. Sarah ran behind the counter and searched till finally finding the keys. Racing to the display case, she tried every key and finally found one that fit the lock. Just as she opened the door, she heard the toilet flush. He was comming! She took the hat, locked the display case, stuffed the hat inside her red shelling bag, put the keys back, and ran to the back of the store pretending to be interrested in the shell necklaces.

"Sarah?" Luffy called as he walked around the corner. He found her looking at the necklaces. "Can we go eat now?"

Sarah smiled as she looked around. "Yea, lets go." she said. "Race ya!"

They ran out the door just as the shop keeper yelled at the top of his lungs.

A good distance away, they found a whole table full of food, and conviently enough for Luffy, right next to the pool. They each made their plates... well Luffy's was more like five or six plates, and began eating. Finally, when the captain was content, Sarah bit her lip. She had to tell him that she'd found his hat. "Luffy?"

"Hold on, I wanna see something!" he cried as he ran towards the pool and jumped into the shallow end.

Sarah's eyes widened. "_Luffy_?!" she screamed and ran toward the pool, only to see his head pop out. She grabbed her heart as he laughed. "You scared me..."

"Look, I can move! C'mon Sarah, jump in!" Luffy said.

"What about my bag?" she asked.

"Set it by the edge of the pool." he said.

"I don't-" her sentence was cut short when Luffy splashed her, getting her completely soaked. "That's it, you're dead!"

Sarah took off her clothes, leaving her in a green bathing suit. The top was green and black checkered squares and the bottom was black with a green belt attached to it. She covered her bag with her clothes, and dove in. Luffy laughed as they started a water fight. Everything was going great untill an annoying laugh interrupted their waterfight. Sarah tensed, she knew who that was. She looked up and saw Mark standing at the edge of the pool, in his hand was a pistol. Sarah's eyes widened. "M-Mark..." she started. Luffy glared at him as Sarah began to back away.

"Get over here." he commanded.

Sarah quickly dove under the water and swam between the people in the pool. She heard the sound of gunfire and suddenly, the pool water started turning red. She screamed under water and surfaced for air. She saw Mark take aim through the fleeing crowd and she dove under again as bullets flew past her. She couldn't see through all the blood and she had to surface again.

A searing pain flew up her arm. She'd been shot.

Sarah screamed and her hands clawed at the water. Air, she needed air! She barely broke through the surface. "LUFFY!"

oooooooooooo

Meanwhile, at the surface, Luffy was busy searching through all the people for Sarah. When he didn't find her in the crowd, he began searching the water. That's when he heard it. Someone screamed his name and his head shot toward the sound. He looked just in time to see Sarah go back down, her scream cut off abrubtly. His eyes widened when the bubbles comming up from that area vanished. "Sarah!" he screamed.

She told him to hide his powers... but she'd die unless he used them! Luffy flung his arms at the street light. Upon grabbing it, he shot out of the pool, spun around the pole like a astroid, and landed with people staring at him while running. He ran to the edge of the pool, but Mark stopped him. "If I can't have her then nobody can." he said aiming the pistol at Luffy's chest.

"Bullet's can't hurt me." Luffy stated with a smirk, an explosion went off in the background causing his bangs to shadow his eyes.

Mark snapped. "_**That's what you think!**_" he hollared as he fired. The bullet entered Luffy's chest, then was flung back at Mark, hitting him in the arm. "W-Wha... what are you?!" he cried as he backed far away from Luffy.

"You're worst nightmare." He said with a seriousness that sent chills up Mark's spine.

"You'll pay for this. My hunters will get you." Mark said before suddenly turning to shadow and vanishing. Luffy's eyes widened at this.

Hunters?

What are Hunters?

Are they edible?

And then he remembered something - Sarah!

Luffy flung his arms at the water, grabbing something on the bottom, he jerked it up through the surface. 'Sarah!'

She flew at him and he caught her easily. "L-Luffy..." she gasped, coughing, leaning on him for support. "I-I thought I was gonna... drown..."

Luffy nodded, there was no time for talking. Mark and whoever these hunters were... they were killing everyone!

Sarah, seeming to have read his thoughts, came up with a solution. "Maybe if we leave, they'll follow us..." she gasped, lungs taking in air. She half ran half staggered over to where her stuff lay, holding her arm, and grabbed her black capris and red and white pok-a-dotted tank top. She slipped her capris on before a bullet whizzed past her ear. She grabbed her shirt and bag before she ran for it, Luffy right next to her. Suddenly, there was shouting and people running after them.

"Hold on!" Luffy yelled over the commotion as he grabbed Sarah. "Gum-Gum Rocket!" he cried, grabbing a pole and sending them flying out of the party.

"_After them_!" A hunter hollared as they all began running down the street.

"_Run_!" Sarah cried as they began choosing random streets to run down. Suddenly, Sarah recognized one. "This way!" she said as Luffy followed her through someone's backyard and up to a house. Sarah began visciously kicking the door. "Anna open the door! Hurry!" she screamed as there came a clicking noise from within the house. Anna appeared at the door. "Sarah-"

"Move!" she cried as she pushed Anna to the side, shoved Luffy inside, ran in and slammed the door behind her, locking it. Luffy, after letting out a huge breath of air, fell over onto the floor. "Hungry..." he whined.

"How can you even think of food right now..." Sarah gasped, situating herself against the door as Anna stood there looking very confused.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Hunters..." Sarah gasped.

"Here?!" Anna cried as Kaden emerged from the kitchen holding a pizza in one hand and a sobe in the other.

"What's going on?" Kaden asked.

"Hunters!" Anna and Sarah cried.

"Uh... what's a hunter?" Luffy asked as everyone fell over... except Sarah.

Sarah calmly looked at Luffy. "Luffy, will you pay attention?" she asked, Luffy nodded innocently, sitting indian style before her, eyes wide with curiosity. She nodded... how could she make this simple? By telling him what the hell was going on.


	4. Taken

Chapter 4

Zoro groggily opened his eyes, the spinning just would not stop. His head hurt and he felt like he'd just woke up from the biggest hangover ever. He put his hand to his head to try and ease the pain, but that didn't do anything for him. The swordsman frowned, the last thing he remembered was eating dinner... but the rest was a blur...

'I'm sorry Zoro...'

Wait... Nami had said that to him. Why was she...

Then, everything snapped into focus.

"_**That Bitch**_!" Zoro yelled and very quickly regretted it as the sound left a ringing in his ears and only made his headache worse. The room spun dangerously as his arm fell back to his side. 'She drugged me...'

The swordsman was breathing heavily and every muscle in his body was tense. He slowly sat up and had to try and keep himself steady by grabbing the headboard. He growled and forced his mind to concentrate. Soon, all the pain vanished... well that or he was just ignoring it. Either or, it was working. He desided to take it to the next step and he slowly got up. It felt as if his legs would give out on him so he kept a firm grip on the headboard as he took one step... and then another. Soon, he was stumbling along. 'I'm gonna kill that girl...'

Zoro entered the bright sunlight. "Where is she..?" he growled to himself as he looked around the deck. Suddenly, as if some higher force had heard him, she walked right around the corner... and froze at the mere sight of him.

They made eye contact and neither one of them moved. Then she turned and faster than a cat Zoro ran, tackled and had her pinned to the ground.

"Z-Zoro..." Nami stuttered.

"You. Drugged. Me." Zoro spat. "Why?"

Nami bit her bottom lip and it made Zoro grin psychotically. He loved it when she was afraid, made him all tingly inside. "It was... the only way..." she said in a wavering voice.

The grin fled from Zoro's face at those words. By no means was he an idiot and he knew exactly what that meant. "Where are we." It was more of a statement.

"5 days from port. I-I'm so sorry Zoro, but it was the only way we could go and get supplies." she said as he growled. "Please, just accept it like we all have? Luffy's gone, Zoro. He can't come back and if we die it won't exactly make things better."

"Luffy's not dead." Zoro snapped. "We just haven't looked hard enough!"

"I'm going to give you five seconds to get off of my Nami-san before I kick the shit out of you, Dickwad." came Sanji's voice as he walked toward them. "5..."

"Go right ahead and try." Zoro growled. "I just needed a good reason to kill the both of you and now's perfect." He didn't have his swords but he didn't care, he could still kick his ass.

"4..."

"Sanji!" Nami cried. "Don't!"

"3..."

Zoro smirked and got up so Nami could move.

"2..."

"Sanji!" Nami cried.

"1-"

"STOP!" came a voice and Chopper clung to Sanji's leg. "Don't fight now! Usopp's found an island! We can stop and look for food-"

"And perhaps Luffy's washed up on shore!" Zoro said with a new hope which made evryone sigh.

"Or I could make me some make-shift Cigarettes." Sanji pondered.

"Ok, lets dock her at the island. Well get some food and some things we need and we'll pack up and go." Nami said, "And yes, Zoro, you can go look for Luffy."

Everyone nodded and went to prepare the ship. Within a few quick moments the ship was docked... but the little doctor forgot to mention one thing... the beach was the only sandy part of the whole freakin' island. The rest was made up of rocks and ship debris. The crew, minus Vivi and Chopper as they could stay behind and guard the Merry-Go, got off the ship and walked on the small beach.

"I'm going to look, if anyone wants to come they can-" Zoro started but was cut off by a large rumbling sound. The crew looked up to see what looked like a rock slide, but upon closer inspection...

"Animals?!" Sanji cried as they rolled toward them. They looked like a bunch of armidillos' only completely made of rock. A small one rammed into Sanji's shin and he promptly went to kick it. He nearly broke his foot.

"Run!" Screamed Usopp as he took off running.

"What about the ship?" Nami asked as they ran and climbed along slippery rocks.

"It'll be fine!" Screamed Zoro.

"Yea, but where do we run too?!" Sanji asked as one of the little shits launched itself right at his head.

Zoro scanned the area ahead of them with his sharp vision. Finally, he spotted it. "There!" he cried as he pointed to a cave.

"There?!" Nami cried.

"Unless you wanna fall victim to these little... things!" Zoro argued as he was not able to come up with a name for them.

At the last minute they all dove into the cave and the rock midgets rolled past them. Everyone was busy panting and trying to learn how to breathe again. "This... is all... you fault... Long-Nose..." Sanji gasped as he hunched over his knees.

"Shut up... Princess..." Snapped Zoro. "Now's not... the time for... this..."

As soon as they could all breath again, they took in the surroundings. There was water in the cave, knee deep cold water. That and there was only one way to go unless they wanted to suffer from concussions. Nami sighed, "Well, onward."

The Straw-Hat Pirates walked on into complete darkness untill Zoro thought he touched something slimy and cold. He reached outward even though his mind was screaming at him that he was doing something stupid. It felt like water and at first he thought it was a waterfall, but there was no noise comming from it and it was completely smooth with no pressure. He touched it again and felt it ripple like jello. "What is that?" he asked.

He felt it ripple again as someone else touched it. "I don't know..." Nami said. "Does anybody have a light?"

Zoro heard a rustling noise and then a "fittt... Fsst..." noise before there was a small light in the tunnel. Nami gasped, Usopp clung to Nami wimpering, Sanji raised an eyebrow, and Zoro couldn't take his eyes from it. It looked like a mirror, but when he touched it it rippled like metallic silver water. Zoro stuck his hand in and it felt all gooey but nothing happened... except that the hand he stuck in never appeared on the other side.

"What do you feel?" asked Nami.

"I think you mean to ask what is it?" suggested Usopp.

"For two answers: number one I feel nothing and for number two, I have no clue what this thing is." Zoro said.

Suddenly, there was a hiss and a curse from Sanji as he burned his finger and dropped the match. The light went out.

And that's when it happened.

Zoro felt a sudden coldness travel up his arm. Panicing he began to try and jerk his hand out. His arm wouldn't come out of the mirror type thing. "What the hell?!" he yelled.

Sanji lit another match and screamed. The silver substance was covering Zoro's body, his clothes... everything! "Grab him!" Nami cried as Usopp grabbed Zoro around the waist. Suddenly, the substance spread onto him and he couldn't detach from Zoro, who was now completely silver and being pulled into the thing. "Guys! Help us!" screamed Usopp as the silver stuff covered his face.

Nami shrieked and Sanji's eyes traveled to her, the same thing was happening to her as well. "Nami!" he cried as he grabbed for her. He dropped the match and the last things that could be heard were their screams before they disappeared as well.

ooooooooooo

"How much do you know about... well... magick?" Sarah asked.

"You mean like a magician?!" Luffy cried excitedly. "Are you going to do a trick?!"

"Somewhat, but first I need to know how much you know about it."

"Well..." Luffy thought for a moment. "Absolutely nothing!"

"Great." Sarah scowled. She put her head in her hand. "Well, lets start from the basics. Those people you saw with Mark are hunters. A hunter is a person who wants to kill people like_ us_." she began, indicating to everyone in the room.

"Don't forget about Gage and Krissy." Anna said.

"Them too, but Kay no longer counts. Anyways, hunters have powers like your devil fruits, only they are born with them." she said as Luffy gasped.

"Then they can't swim either?!" he asked as Sarah smacked her forehead.

"They don't need too but they can! They can turn to shadows too and leave spells on you that make you do whatever they want!!"

Luffy suddenly went quiet. "You mean like those bounty hunters at Baroque Works?" he asked. "With the paint?"

"Presicely." Sarah said as Luffy's eyes went very very serious. It kinda creeped her out.

"Are those mean shadow people after you and your friends?" he asked.

"Yes. And if given the chance, they'll kill us without mercy and possibly torture us before that." she said as Anna curled up next to Kaden.

"Why?" Luffy asked.

"Well then, there's really no way to tell you about this, you wouldn't understand."

"Sarah..." Anna said, staring at her. "Are you going to..."

"Yes." she said. "I'm going to show him."

Sarah stood up and walked over to the small coffee table where a huge white candle was located in the very center. She lit the candle. Luffy watched with a child's curiosity and an adults seriousness. "Luffy, watch and learn why the hunters are after me... after all of us."

And suddenly, Sarah was holding the flame in her hand. Luffy's eyes widened as he looked at the candle - there was a flame there too! Suddenly, the flame in her hand turned blue and began to engulf her hand.

"I can control any of the elements. I am the spirit of what was the 'Kodiac Pride.' The 'Kodiac Pride' consisted of 5 or more people who could control certain elements. Two of us, who still have our powers, can control them all. Anna was Fire, Kaden was Earth, Krissy was Air, Sissy, or the other Sarah, would be Water, Gage is Darkness, and I am Light or the Spirit. Gage and I can control all the elements. We called it the 'Kodiac Pride'... it was like a pride of lions with one leader. Gage was the leader." Sarah explained. The flames suddenly turned into a fire ball.

"Kinda like me and my crew?!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly. Then he frowned. "What happened?"

"Exactly. Gage was the captain of the 'Kodiac Pride.' We were his crew." Sarah said. She sighed at his second question. "The reason we no longer are a family is because of Krissy. Krissy can't follow the rules. She can't keep quiet about her powers... so now the hunters are after all of us. Their numbers are increasing by the day. Things just keep getting worse now that they know who to look for."

"What do you mean worse?" Luffy frowned as he raised an eyebrow and scratched his head.

"The hunters have captured and killed many of us. Those of us that remain have gone into hiding or have formed small rebelious groups. Our numbers decrease by the day... and soon we won't be able to defend ourselves." She explained. "The only way to win is to find out who's controlling the hunters... the one true leader... and destroy them. So far... that's been a big flop..."

"Were you guys born with your powers too?" Luffy asked, raising an eyebrow.

That ruined the moment...

Sarah smiled. "Yes." She said.

Luffy was basically jumping up and down while sitting. "That's soooo cool!"

Sarah laughed at the look of childish excitement plastered on Luffy's face. Then, for Luffy's short attention span's sake, "We also gain the ability to fly after a while."

Luffy's eyes widened to an inhuman size. "Fly?" he all but squealed. "How?!"

Sarah was actually amazed Luffy had payed complete attention for this long.

Anna smirked. "The wind."

Sarah exhaled and extended her arms toward the ground while standing. A small breeze filled the room and Sarah was hovering inches from the ground. "That's all I can manage to do so far." Sarah stated.

"Cool..." Luffy whispered. Then his eyebrows narrowed. "Hey, then why did you tell me to hide my powers?!"

Anna and Kaden both looked at Sarah with wide eyes. "He has powers too?!"

Sarah nodded as she silently landed on the ground. "Remember the One Piece Manga I had you read?" she asked, standing up as Anna nodded. "Say hello to Luffy."

Anna's jaw dropped as Luffy waved. Sarah put the blue flames on the candle wick and blew them out. "Anyways yea... even with the simplest things I can be very dangerous. When I am in danger, I can create any element on my own if there's none around."

"Then why didn't you control the water in the pool?" Luffy asked. Sarah indicated to her still bleeding arm. "Y-you're bleeding!"

"Pain distracts me from concentrating and controlling large ammounts of a certain element." Sarah then turned to Anna. "Pencil. Now."

Anna ran into her bedroom and after a few minutes (she had to be quiet so she didn't wake Phillip) she re-emerged. Anna handed her a paintbrush. "The only thing I could find in my room since it was rearranged." she chuckled.

Sarah took the brush and clenched it between her teeth. "You mean since Kaden destroyed it." she growled. Sarah then dug her fingers into the bullet hole and pulled the bullet free. She left teeth marks in the brush handle as she let out something between a scream and a growl. Luffy gritted his teeth as Anna looked away. Kaden stared at her in awe. Anna then walked into the bathroom and came out with a gauze wrap, alcohol, a cotton swab, and water. Sarah forced a smile as Anna dipped the cotton swab in the water and began to clean it. Then, she put alcohol on it and Sarah screamed so loud Kaden started grinding his teeth together, glancing from her to the crib. Sarah tried desprately to jerk her arm away but Luffy held her in place and gripped her arm to try and stop the shaking. Luffy ended up wrapping her arm up afterwards and Anna dabbed the sweat from her forehead. Sarah collapsed against Luffy with a sigh and together Kaden and Luffy laid Sarah on the couch.

"You're lucky that didn't hit anything major." Kaden stated as he sat back down and took a bite of his pizza. 'Thank god Phil didn't wake up...'

Sarah laughed weakly. "Mark's lucky he didn't hit anything major. He's getting castrated-"

"Who wants to watch tv?" Anna interrupted, laughing nervously, and, not waiting for an answer, turned on the television.

"And tonight's main news story, a shoot out at the Day of the Dead festival. Several dead and many more injured. We're still trying our best to capture those who were responsible for this event-"

"Shit!" Sarah gasped as she sat up, the pain in her arm comming alive with the movement and she clenched it.

"What?" Anna asked.

"My mom's gonna flip out! Luffy, we gotta... Luffy?" Sarah started but stopped when she noticed that the pirate captain was nowhere around. She tried to get up, but Anna pushed her back down. "We'll find him. You rest. When we find him, we'll have him take you home."

"But... what about the hunters?" Sarah asked.

Anna turned to her and smiled. "Something tells me that Luffy won't let them do anything to you." She turned to Kaden. "C'mon Kaden."

"Yes ma'am!" Kaden cried, saluting her. Anna promptly smacked him upside the head as they began to search the yard and inside the house. Sarah sighed and without her will, her eyes closed and she was asleep in an instant.

ooooooooooo

Anna was just about to give up the search when she found her target. Luffy was sitting in her backyard up on top of the shed staring at the sky. "Luffy?"

Luffy kept staring straight ahead as he spoke. "Mark had better say his prayers. I'm gonna send him flying..."

Anna stood there for a moment. She really didn't know what to say to that. Luffy desided to continue. "Sarah's a good person... a good friend." Luffy looked away from the moon and down at Anna. Anna was busy staring at him without realising it. When she did, he was looking at her with a confused look.

"Sorry. I was just thinking that there's a lot I don't know about you." Anna said as she sat atop the truck next to the shed.

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, you know pretty much everything there is to know about all of us. But for instance, I don't even know how you got that scar." Anna pointed to his face.

"Hehehe. I was trying to be a badass when I was little to impress the local pirates. Ended up stabbing myself in the eye to show how tough I actually was."

Anna laughed. "Dumbass!"

Luffy sat indian style. "Ahh… there's not much to know about me. My story's not nearly as cool as everyone else's."

"Sure it is."

Luffy shook his head. "Nope. Until I met my crew and you all, I had a pretty easy life. I didn't suffer horribly like anyone from my crew. I didn't tell stories like Usopp. I didn't… Hey. I don't know anything about Kaden except that he listens to nobody. Weird, huh?"

"Anyways, your life?"

"What about it?" he asked with a grin.

Anna sighed. "Alright, fine smartass. If there's nothing traumatic about your past, why don't you want to tell me about it? Huh? Huh?"

"I dunno…" Luffy said and sighed. "My life before I left my home village, it had… a theme? People always left me behind."

Anna's eyes narrowed in confusion. 'Who could leave him?' she wondered. 'Sure, he's a bit annoying and he eats alot but he's one of the funniest people I know, not the most civilized but he's charismatic…'

"When I was young, my father died facing thieves," he began. "I wanted to run away on the next ship I saw, which was Captain Shanks, but I couldn't. I was too young. My mother made me promise to wait until I was 17 before I left home. She was a thin woman with long hair, a strawberry blonde like Sarah's. When I was 10, she died. On her deathbed my mother admitted she and my dad and all of my family had been great pirates. She told me that she wanted me to be an amazing pirate, even better than they had been. She told me to go to Logue Town and stand at the top of the gallows to see what it was like and if I could handle that, then I could go find One Piece on the Grand Line. When my mother died... when I was 10... I had nowhere to go. I was alone for all that time."

"Well, didn't you have family? Friends?" Anna asked. "Everyone has atleast one friend..."

"No. My older brother was too busy trying to support me to play and all the other children thought I was a freak 'cause I could stretch like rubber..." He pulled on his cheek to prove his point before continuing. "I had nothing until I met my crewmates and family... my newest additions even. You guys are all I've ever wanted, even more than One Piece. My friends are my treasure." He turned and smiled at her. "Sounds silly, doesn't it?"

"Not at all," she said. "You make alot more sense than the dumbasses around here..."

"When Sarah saved me from drowning, my first thought was that she was strong and perhaps she would join my crew. Now that I know the whole story, I know that I can't leave till you all are safe. After seeing what Mark did... he'll pay." Luffy said in a voice that sent chills down Anna's spine. He slowly cracked his knuckles.

"Luffy?" Anna asked after a few seconds.

"Huh?"

"You talk about Sarah alot." Anna stated.

Luffy looked back toward the moon. "She's... different."

Anna smirked with a mischevious look in her eyes. "How so?"

Luffy frowned. "I don't know..."

"You do... just put it any way you can..." Anna suddenly looked up and met his eyes. There was a heart warming expression on his dark eyes that she just couldn't place. They were sparkling and he was smiling... not grinning that same old goofy grin, just smiling.

Could it be… was he..?

'Sarah's sooo getting made fun of later...'

"When I'm with her, I'm just happy. And I want to be with her all day. Is that love?"

Anna grinned at his words. They sounded so naïve, simple… and meaningful at the same time. "I'm not sure. Explain."

"I like seeing her smile."

"That's natural between friends, silly."

"Um… I like listening to her voice."

"You hardly even understand what she says most of the time."

There was silence. Anna almost got tired waiting when he thoughtfully murmured,

"I don't like seeing her afraid... sad... scared even. I saw her like that for the first time when her father showed up at that resturant a few months ago. She looked so fragile... that's why I destroyed it; I wanted to erase all the traces of those who made her unhappy."

Anna gaped at him, her eyes wide. She knew that Sarah had a rough life when she was younger... her father threw her siblings out onto the streets and left them for dead. He tried to rape her sister, and he beat her mother every night. Sarah would be home alone with him when he'd invite his friends over... then there was that one time she woke up with nothing but a towel on. She had to beg for food and hide every night so she wouldn't get beat. She stayed awake most of the night... only sleeping when she had a weapon or someone she considered strong nearby. When Luffy saw how Sarah's father tried to beat her... how Sarah broke down and cried... he got pissed and she'd guessed that Luffy was just defending Sarah like he would anyone else. He never told anyone his reasons for why he destroyed that place. All she had seen back then, when she came too, was the falling structure and lots of explosions; he had never told anyone about this before…

"You know, I really hated it when her father made her cry. Sarah didn't want me involved so I tried not to get involved. But the moment I saw her crying and bleeding on the dirt, it became my affair. No one has the right to hurt her."

The way Luffy used the "her" made Anna giggle. Luffy had never been this open with his feelings before. Sometimes, after reading Shonen Jump, she thought that maybe he just liked the simple life and only dreamed of his goals and having fun... no time for anything else. Now, she realized how wrong her assumptions were. There may be hope for them after all. She merely nodded at him to go on.

"I was so afraid when she got sick after the incident. You know, with all of her cuts and gashes... I thought I would lose her," and Anna giggled again at his use of "her", "I couldn't imagine Sarah dying. I can't."

More silence. Then,

"Am I in love with her?" Luffy asked abruptly peering at Anna with wide eyes. The question sounded so stupid that a big roll of sweat dropped from Anna's head.

"Luffy..." Anna said in a gasp. 'Why did he have to ask something that was so damn obvious?!'

And then, it happened. There was a crash and a peircing scream that shattered into the night. Luffy and Anna both froze.

"LUFFY!"

"Sarah!" Anna gasped. More crashing noises filled the nights along with screams of terror. "Phil..." she whispered as she heard him start crying.

In the blink of an eye, Luffy had launched himself off the shed and was flying across her yard and right through the back door. "Wait!" Anna screamed and ran toward her house. "Kaden, hurry!" Anna cried. She prayed to god everything was alright. She stopped and slowly entered the house. Everything was in dismay... and there was blood on the floor. Anna instinctivly ran into her room and grabbed the crying Phil. After checking on him and making sure he was fine, she slowly entered the livingroom. The fact the the livingroom was completely destroyed and that her dad was going to be royally pissed off wasn't the worst part about it though. Anna looked to Luffy, and noticed by the way he was standing that it had happened. She knew before she even looked toward the couch that...

Sarah was gone.


	5. The Demand

Chapter 5

"Well what do we have here. If it isn't Miss Martin."

Tears began forming in Sarah's eyes. She was trapped alone with a hunter, completely drained of energy, and nobody was around.

"Get away from me," she hissed. The man laughed, as he grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the wall. A loud crash was heard and Sarah cried out.

The man slapped her across the face.

"Shut up..." he growled at her.

Sarah hit the ground hard, landing on her back, and in the next moment, somebody was on top of her. "Now hold still," he whispered. Sarah started to feel sick as she tried to break free. Then his lips were over hers and she felt his tongue enter her mouth.

Sarah immediately shot up, trying to push the man away. She was now fully aware of his intentions. She thought she was going to throw up. She tried kicking, but her legs wouldn't move from under his body. Next best thing: she punched him in the jaw. The man flew up, in pain.

As Sarah tried to run the hunter grabbed her by the hair and threw her into a mirror. The glass pieces cutting into her skin. She was hurt... "LUFFY!" Sarah cried.

Phil began crying. She hoped someone would hear her or Anna's baby and come to the rescue-

He grabbed her by the hair and violently threw her against a wall. Just then, she lost all strength in her legs and tried to sink to the ground, but the man still had her by the hair. He threw her across the room and she landed on a table shattering it. She tried to show him that she had no strength. She lay, completely collapsed on the ground, hoping he would just go away.

He decided to try again. He forcefully brought his lips to hers. Sarah didn't have much strength, so she did the only thing she could think of: She dug her nails into his cheek. At first, this had no affect, but as Sarah concentrated on it more, steam began comming out of the gashes, followed by a sizziling. The man finally registered that Sarah was burning his face and screamed.

He stood up and kicked Sarah to the other side of the room. Something cracked and Sarah let out a teeth shattering scream as she curled into a ball fully aware that she could no longer defend herself.

"Well, Sarah. You're looking quite frightened... you do know that that just increases my spirit don't you?" He asked as he rolled her over onto her other side so she could see him.

The man knelt in front of her and whispered in her ear, "You're mine..." Sarah smacked his face as hard as she could and tried to get up to run, but her injuries wouldn't allow her to and she collapsed. She heard a noise from behind her... laughing... he was laughing at her...

"It's no use, Miss Martin. I've got you. There's no escaping me..."

Then he smiled. The look on the man's face sent chills down her spine... she was shaking all over. Her heart was beating faster with each passing moment. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach... it was fear. And this man in front of her was feeding off of it.

He grabbed a handful of her strawberry blonde hair and picked her up by it so she would face him. He ran his other hand slowly down her cheek. Hot tears started streaming down her face, not from the pain, but from her anger... then he threw her against the entertainment center...

As the man started advancing towards her, Sarah franticly looked around her for help... for anything that could help her... nothing... nobody came for her...

The man picked her up by the neck and lifted her into the air... smiling...

"Luffy," Sarah whispered in one last attempt. The man held up his hand. Sarah saw it coming towards her. An overwhelming feeling of pain swept over her as she saw a flash of red. Then everything faded into blackness.

ooooooooooo

Luffy was thinking good thoughts. Perhaps that was love - where when you're with the other person, you put 218 into every battle, into everything you do. Because you know when they're happy, then you're happy. Where you feel all warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about them. And that's what makes everyday worth while. Anna was just getting ready to answer him... when he heard it - a faint crash. A small scream.

He was going to forget about it, when it happened again. Only the second time it was much louder, and they screamed his name.

He paled.

"Sarah!" Anna gasped. He automatically stretched his arms and sent himself flying toward the house. When he entered, it was deathly quiet. The only way he saw the scene was from the static reflection comming off the tv, and the scene he saw there sent shivers running through his body. There was a man in the room, completely dressed in black.

Luffy growled... and that's when he saw what it was holding. He was hot with fury and rage as the darkness of the room ran over him. Each bit telling him that the night itself was cold and even colder thoughts were now forming in his own mind. This rage was new to him.

He looked at the body held before him. The blonde-haired woman was being held off the ground by the neck helplessly and unconsciously. Blood was running on the floor and flowed to his feet to where he was standing. That only magnified the wasted life he felt within himself. 'How could I have let this happen?'

In the darkness he could make out her face. A gash on her forehead was covered with a deep color - a color of blood. It ran dark and deepened with each passing moment. Her breathing was unsteady and random scratches ran along her body along with deep bruises as well.

"Hunter." he said, the darkness breaking through it's cage.

The hunter smiled and that magnified the rage burning within the pirate. "Luffy wasn't it?" he didn't wait for a response. "You've got a week. Bring her friends to Mark or she dies. After all, there's a big reward out for whoever does that."

Luffy's fist flew at the hunter at that instant, both, the hunter and Sarah, discintigrated. Luffy's fist slamed through the wall. When the smoke cleared... Luffy was left standing in the middle of the room... feeling deathly alone...

Anna walked over to Luffy as Kaden opened the front door and stared at the mess. He ran over to Anna and Phil to make sure they were alright before he turned his eyes to where Anna was staring. "Luffy?" Anna whispered.

Luffy's fists balled up to where his knuckles turned white. "She's gone..."

"Where? Where is she?" Anna asked.

"The hunters have her wherever they're hiding!" he cried as he dropped to his knees and punched the floor with his fists.

Anna growled. "Kaden, call Gage. Tell him we've got a problem - a BIG problem."


	6. The Plan

Chapter 6

The car ride to Cape Coral, Florida was a long one, but Luffy was willing to put up with it. All that was on his mind was Sarah. Her face, smile... and her scream last night. Of course they told her mom that they were going on a road trip and that Sarah was still sleeping in the car... well, more like called her mom. Her mom was reluctant at first, but with a little persuading from Anna, it was an all go. They left from Kaden's since he had a car and Anna's dad was going to be pissed when he got home due to the state of the house.

Luffy sat with Sarah's bag in his hands, his head down as he stared at the floor. He wasn't sure what to do just yet. For once, he had no idea how to make things right. The memory of last night pained him too much to even speak the whole way there. Would Sarah even trust him? Forgive him?

Or would she leave him like everyone else had before her..?

There was some new feeling he was experiencing now. There was this feeling in the pit of his stomach, it made him feel sick. His heart ached. He was broken. He couldn't figure it out.

As the car raced on with the clouds and wind, words were echoing through Luffy's mind.

_"Believe me, this isn't over."_

_"Leave it to you to grin after something like that..."_

_"There's a huge block party going on later this evening. I wanted to know if you'd like to go with me?"_

_"LUFFY! You scared me..."_

_"Hunters? Here?"_

_"My mom's gonna flip out! Luffy, we gotta... Luffy?"_

_"LUFFY!!" _

_"You've got a week. Bring her friends to Mark or she dies. After all, there's a big reward out for whoever does that..."_

'How could I have let this happen?' Luffy had eaten himself alive with that question. If he would have been there, he could have saved her...

"How?" It was like it was happening all over again.

"HOW?" He couldn't get this out of his head.

"HOW?!"

"Sarah..." he whispered.

'How...' the voice in his head was now full of sorrow, not anger. Was it possible that she was in the same state as he was? Perhaps worse...

'How?'

"Because..." Luffy was lost for words. If only he could tell her... appologize to her. Would she believe him? Would she trust him? She knows he never meant for it to happen...

He promised to never let it happen...

Luffy's heart sank as he remembered the coldness and lifeless feelings that were intertwined in the room before that hunter took her away. He was having a hard time dealing with this emotion. He hated it. It made him angry, depressed, and lonely.

The Pirate Captain of the Straw-Hat Pirates, the one with the highest bounty on his head in the East Blue... had a broken heart.

ooooooooooo

Gage opened the door to see an angry Kaden, a swollen eyed Anna holding her baby, and a very silent Luffy standing there, a red abused backpack hanging limply over his shoulder. He took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow. "Come inside, sit down, and talk to me." he said as he moved to the side. When they were inside, he indicated for them to head to his room. He then looked around, closed the door, and followed them.

Kaden stood against the wall of Gage's room, Anna sat near his legs, Gage sat on his bed as Luffy stood completely still against the other wall, staring at the floor with his hands in his pockets. He was still wearing the same bloody, torn clothing he wore the night Sarah was taken.

Gage sighed. "You guys couldn't have picked a better time to visit, I swear. And who ever controls the cosmos couldn't have picked a better fucking time to let this happen..."

"Gage." Anna sighed. "Look, I'm not one to counsal people, that's Sarah's job. In order to get her back, we need your help. So can you please push your own problems aside for a day or two and help get her back? She'll help you through your delema..."

Luffy glanced over at Gage.

Gage looked toward him with an observing look. "Sarah's already explained?" Luffy barely nodded.

Gage sat there for a minute considering his options. 'Without Sarah, I'd probably have nobody to talk to, nobody to vent to, and I'd probably drink myself to death and all hell would destroy the earth.' He looked toward Anna. 'Sarah's her best friend and Anna's not likely to find anybody else like her. Sarah's been there through the birth of her baby, been to all the classes, heard about the break ups, the things Krissy did, how Mark was, and she's been there to help Anna through it.' His eyes shifted to Kaden and he knew she was a good friend of Kaden's, probably one of the only good friends he had. Then his eyes shifted to Luffy. 'I don't know how she befriended him. I don't know what happened or why, but I can tell he loves her. If we don't get her back, he'll die and his world will collapse just as ours will.'

Gage then sighed. "Alright. I'll help. I'll even go asteral to find her." he said as all eyes turned to him. "But first, I need to know how this all happened. In detail."

Luffy stayed silent so Gage sighed and looked to Anna and Kaden. "It's like I said." Kaden said with his arm's crossed. "Her and Luffy went to the Day of the Dead festival when hunters attacked the place. They were lead by Mark-"

"Mark?" Gage asked with both eyebrows raised. "Nimrod caused that much trouble?"

Anna growled. "This is not the time to be funny, Gasoline." she said.

Gage growled. "I know that." he snapped. "I told her that Mark was more advanced than we knew, and I know she was cautious. But neither of us knew that he had the hunters on his side."

"Anyways." Kaden snapped. "Luffy and Sarah escaped and ran to Anna's. Sarah'd been shot so we cleaned... they cleaned her wound and we were letting her rest when Luffy went missing. Next thing we all knew, we heard a scream so we ran back. Sarah was gone."

Gage nodded and turned to Luffy. "What happened when you got there before everyone else?" he asked.

"Don't worry, he knows all." Anna said when Luffy raised an eyebrow without emotion. "He reads minds."

Slowly, Luffy discribed (in detail) what he saw and what the hunter said. Gage nodded and 'hmmm' ed untill Luffy got to the part where Sarah was all bloody. At that point, Gage clenched his fists to tightly, his knuckles turned white. "So, Mark wants to play games? Fine, we'll just have to fight fire with fire."

Luffy looked at Gage with a new hope shining brightly in his eyes. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

Gage grinned evilly.

ooooooooooo

Inside an old abandoned building, the hunter drug a now awake and struggling Sarah across the floor. She was still bleeding quite badly but the hunter didn't seem to care as he drug her across the floor without mercy. Finally, Sarah gained her footing and kicked him in his arm causing the hunter to let her go. She spun and ran toward the way they entered but the hunter ran after her and dove at her, tackling her to the floor. Sarah screamed as he picked her up by the scruff of her shirt and spun her around to face him, slamming her back first against the floor with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. Her shirt, or rather bathing suit top was torn now, the first sleeve hanging uselessly in the back. "Shut up." the hunter hissed, getting face to face with her.

Sarah glared at him and bit his hand, the hunter raised the hand covering her mouth and smacked her across the face. "Eat shit." she growled as he grabbed her by her throat and lifted her off the ground.

"Sarah, I could kill you right now."

"Go ahead." Sarah daringly growled.

'Was she this brave before? She doesn't realise how powerful I am. It's time to show her, then.'

The hunter pushed her against the wall. Sarah continued to glare, still not scared. "You don't intimidate me," she whispered, for his face was right in front of her's.

"I'm not finished yet," he said so calmly that chills ran up her spine. "Just call out 'mercy' when you want me to stop," he snickered, laughing at his joke. Sarah continued to glare. He tightened his grip around her neck. "I am a hunter, Marius, the most powerful in this clan! It is my motto to 'Kill or be killed.'" With that, Marius started to tighten his grip around her neck.

Sarah's eyes widened. She was now outwardly showing the fear she felt inwardly. "What... about... Mark..." she gasped. His grip tightened, as he lifted her higher into the air. "I have my own plans for him. You just happen to be part of them."

All air was cut off from her then. She tried to breathe in, but found it useless. She was getting incredibly dizzy. She dug her fingernails into his wrist and planted her feet against his chest, pushing with all her might, as a last attempt to live. Her strength was slipping away and her nails were doing very little to him.

His wrist burned as blood gently dripped from it. But he only tightened his grip, yet again. 'I'll break her neck!'

Sarah frantically searched the room for anything that might help her. A pipe! She grabbed it and swung, hitting him in the head with it. Marius flew backwards and roared in pain as Sarah ran down a hallway.

Marius cursed his luck and raced after her.

oooooooooooo

Luffy paced the even ground impatiently as he awkwardly tried to avoid any rotting floor boards, not to mention the majority of the dirt. He had laid the others on a small mound that wasn't too dirty, and close enough that he could make sure their bodies didn't become dinner for anything lurking inside the place. After all, this was Sarah's world, not his...

Shaking his head, the pirate captain peered through the gloom vainly trying to catch sight of any figures coming from the hallways. Neither Mark nor any hunters had shown up yet. It took Luffy a long time to come up with this plan, and to be honest, it was the first time he had ever had to think things through so thoroughly. Luffy's normal method was charge and punch and let the others take care of themselves. His comrades were strong, right?

But one of the strongest people he knew had been taken down so easily and he could honestly say, without bragging, that the only person who could possibly match him in strength in this place was Sarah. The others had their talents and, together, were able to come up with this plan, but it was a very risky one. They were here to save one person.

"Luffy?!" A voice hollared out from the shadows.

Pulse racing, Luffy turned towards the voice.

Sarah came running full speed into the room where Luffy was standing. Her feet made the rotting floorboards creak with each step, showing that she didn't know as much about this place as Mark and that she wasn't being very careful. Kinda like himself, but with his luck, if he wasn't careful, he would have fallen through the floor by now.

But why was she running?

"Sarah, are you ok? What happened?" He asked as he ran forward.

"There's a hunter comming after me..." Sarah panted as she hunched over her knees. "Where's a really good place to hide?"

"A hunter?" Luffy grinned. "You escaped a hunter on your own? That's so cool!" Luffy grabbed Sarah and gave her a bear hug, swinging her around like a rag doll.

Sarah laughed weakly and hugged Luffy back with her one arm that wasn't bleeding. "Yeah. Where are the others anyways? I know you didn't come alone. Anna wouldn't let you... I know her too well-"

Luffy suddenly let Sarah go, his eyes growing cold.

"So, where is everyone?" Sarah asked as she began to become nervous. "Luffy..?"

Wordlessly, Luffy nodded to his right, where three bodies were just barely visible in the dim light of the building. Sarah's eyes widened and she sucked in a rather large breath. "Luffy, what happened?" she asked as she rushed toward her friends.

"I happened." Luffy stated, moving to block his friend's progress. 'Sorry, Sarah. But in order for you to play along, I have to do this...'

"Stop kidding around Luffy. This isn't funny." she said managing to keep a waver out of her voice. "Seriously... what happened..?"

"I already told you, I happened Sarah." Luffy said in a cold tone.

Sarah stared at him uncomprehendingly and tried to go around him, only to be stopped again, this time by his hand. Sarah's eyes narrowed as she focused on the rubber caloused hand, it's roughness dimmed here and there by rust colored trails of blood.

"What's going on here, Luffy?" Sarah asked quietly.

Luffy smirked humorlessly. "You just had to ruin the whole plan, didn't you? It wasn't easy to come up with, you know."

"What did you do to the others, Luffy?" Sarah demanded, louder this time.

"They were in the way." Luffy stood tall in his fighter's position. "Now they're not."

Sarah's hands curled slowly into fists. "You…" Flames began to appear.

Luffy rolled his shoulders to loosen them before cracking his neck. "And now it looks like I have to take care of you as well."

"You… you… _Traitor_!" Sarah spit the word out like a curse as she pulled her arms back in preparation for a disastrous fireball. "You're just like Mark! Like Krissy!"

Luffy continued to smirk. Suddenly, his ears caught a faint sound behind him and his eyes widened. Dropping his offense, he rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Sarah's fist just as it rushed towards him, fireball disappearing, and pulled harshly. He fell backwards; abruptly pulling Sarah down with him as a load crack was heard.

Rolling his head back, he caught sight of two figures close to the darkness of the hallway. Damn. The hunters knew they were here... and that meant that Mark would find out soon too... if this plan failed, all hope would be lost for everyone. Luffy was debating on just how quickly he could defeat them before reinforcements arrived when Sarah pushed off him with a growl.

Luffy frantically tried to pull his friend back down, but Sarah gave him a quick backhand that sent him reeling back into the floor boards. "They'll shoot you!" he called past the blood pooling in his mouth.

Sarah glared down at him, totally unconcerned about the two hunters. "I'll kill you. You'll never make it to become the pirate king Luffy. You don't deserve the title." she muttered to Luffy, once again raising her hand, all fingers seperated. This time a disk appeared.

Another crack was heard as Sarah turned her head calmly towards the shot flying toward her, she surrounded herself in an intense fire... only to stumble back in shock as the bullet pierced her shoulder, creating a large hole that instantly spurted blood. The flames immediately disappeared, leaving the floor around her steaming and charred.

"No!" Luffy leapt to his feet and raced towards the shooters, his fists raised. His speed was too fast for the gunmen to react to. Luffy took care of the two with a few quick rubber punches. Breathing heavily, he slowly made his way back to where Sarah stood, stunned.

"I've been shot." she whispered incredulously. "Again." Sarah slowly raised her hand to cup the wound, which was right below her other one. "It hurts."

"You're bleeding again..." Luffy whispered. "You've gotta get help." He took off his shirt and wrapped it tightly around his friend's bleeding arm.

Eyes shadowed, Sarah pushed him away. "Don't touch me." Luffy opened his mouth to protest but a new voice stepped in.

"You did your job well, Luffy. I knew you'd see things my way."

The two turned to see what seemed to be nothing but a small shadow slowly formed into the shape of a man. The hunter stood before them, grinning, as he idly twisted a blonde lock of hair. "Bringing your friends here and finding Sarah at the same time. I must say, you've far exceeded my expectations. You definitely deserve her life now that I'll have money and their power."

Luffy stepped past Sarah, face expressionless, as he walked towards the hunter.

"We have matters to attend to." the hunter gestured to where Sarah stood watching their exchange with a murderous look on her face.

His men walked toward the mound of bodies laying on the floor. Sarah ran infront of them, two fireballs ready when two grabbed her from behind. She began struggling. "Luffy you fucking traitor! How could you do this? After we all befriended you and helped you survive here! How could you side with Mark! I thought you cared about your friends more than anything else in the world! So why would you do this?"

Suddenly, she attacked. Sarah surrounded herself in fire and scortched the two men holding her. They screamed as their entire bodies went up in flames. While the hunters burned, she formed two fireballs and launched them at the ones closest to her friends. Then she went in for the kill on the rest.

"Luffy, I'm sorry... but her life is not worth this much trouble." Marius stated.

Luffy's eyes widened. "You said she'd be kept alive!" he cried. "And what about Mark?!"

"I have my own plans for him." Marius stated. "I take the girl, you lead her friends here. I steal her friends powers and turn them over to the FBI and then I kill Mark and I stand as the strongest..."

Luffy didn't stand around to hear anymore.

"Men, fire when ready." Marius stated calmly.

The hunters about to be attacked pulled out guns with the same weird unmeltable bullets and took aim at Sarah. However... before the words were even out, Luffy had twisted around like a rubberband. He ran faster than he'd ever run before as five shots rang out. He forgot everything. His world, his friends, his family, his pain, his love…

Sarah's eyes widened as the guns went off, true fear striking her immobile for the first time. Luffy's face flashed fleetingly through her mind as she was suddenly knocked over by a giant force coming from the side. She felt the impact of five shots indirectly as they hit the solid force in front of her. Sarah's breath exploded from her body as that large and heavy something landed atop her.

Dazed, the woman's head tipped up only to come face to face with Luffy. His eyes were wide and wild as he grinned down at Sarah.

"You ok?" he grunted.

"Luffy…" Sarah whispered.

"I'd never abandon my friends... You know that..." Luffy's smile widened as he stood up. "You should rest, I'll handle this."

"But... but-"

"Well well straw hat." Marius taunted. "You two won't be much of an expense if you suddenly 'vanished', hm? And I'd still have the power so everything still turns out in my favor. However, your friends are dead and I am sad to say that since they're dead, they're only worth a couple hundred dollars even after being turned over to the FBI."

Luffy smirked and started sniggering. Soon, it turned to all out laughing and everyone in the room looked very confused. "Luffy-" Sarah started.

"What the hell are you laughing at?!" the hunter cried. "All of your friends are de..." he froze when the tip of a sword blade was held against his neck.

"Dead?" growled a deep voice.

Sarah's eyes widened. "Gage?!"


	7. I Have Not Yet Begun To Fight

Chapter 7

Gage simply grinned at the bewildered look on Sarah's face. "What?" he asked, "You didn't think I'd die THAT easily did you? How many times do I have to tell you? _I'm Rick James, Bitch!_"

Sarah looked around and there stood Anna, Kaden, Gage, Mike, Sarah... 'Wait a minute... Sarah, Mike?!' she mentally screamed. "Sissy!" Sarah said in shock as she looked to the other Sarah, "What are you two doing here?"

Sissy smiled. "Anna called me and told me what happened. I told Mike that I was going to help and he wouldn't let me go unless he went with me so here we are." she explained.

Then Sarah heard it... clapping. Someone was clapping.

"So sorry for not introducing everyone properly, but I also have yet to give you all credit." came a voice. Everyone looked around but nobody was talking amongst them...

"Who are you?" asked Sarah, looking around.

"You above all people should know who I am." said the voice, "Perhaps you'll figure it out after a little explanation, hm?"

"Start talking then." She said.

A flash of lightning echoed through the old building, the voice let out a sigh. "Ah, the rain. It's so relaxing, don't you think? Always managing to show up at just the right time to add just alittle drama to the scene."

"You're alittle off topic arn't you?" Gage asked as he kept a firm eye on Marius.

"Can you picture it? The lightning as it hits the beach... the waves reaking havioc on everything they touch?" The voice continued, ignoring Gage. "Breathtaking..."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. Huge waves... lightning... she remembered the first day she'd met Luffy, when he'd washed up on the shore...

_"You're a pirate... for real?"_

_"Yep! Which reminds me - what island is this? I was seperated from my crew during a storm on the Grand Line."_

Sarah's eyes widened considerably at this realization. Luffy had been seperated from his crew during a storm on the Grand Line. A Storm. "_You!_" she cried as everyone in the room, hunters included, looked at her in suprise. "You caused that storm didn't you?! The one in Luffy's world!"

The voice chuckled. "Very good. I always knew you were smart. Not so 'off topic' after all." the voice mocked as Gage let out a growl.

"No, you're not after all..." Anna said as she looked to Sarah.

"Why? Why did you seperate me from my crew?! You could have hurt them!" Luffy cried as he clenched his fists in anger.

"Now that's a good question. Allow me to explain that as well." it said as it laughed. Sighing, it continued. "You see Sarah and I were meant to be together. It had been engraved within the stones of destiny-!"

Sarah snorted and crossed her arms, "I already know where this is going..."

"Shut up! I'm telling the story!" the voice screeched and she rolled her eyes. "_**Ok**_, ok, fine. Continue... geez..."

"Anyways, Sarah desided that that couldn't be true. That nobody could plot her future and tell her who to marry no matter if it was fate itself. I tried convincing her that we were meant to be, but she refused and finally, she left me." the voice explained.

Sarah sighed, "Well now we all know who this is as well, but I won't ruin it. I'll wait till the 'story' is over." she muttered.

"I never got over her leave, I became sad, angry, depressed... and I knew that the only way to end this sadness of mine was to get her back. She showed no intrest of returning to me. It became an obsession then and I figured that if I could show her some old-fashioned danger and rescue her, she'd consider me her hero and come crawling back to me. But no..." it said, "my plan didn't go as planned."

"That has got to be the stupidest plan I've ever heard-"

"Sarah! Shut up! Do you want him to kill us?!" Anna cried.

"Fine! I'll let him continue with his load of bullshit..." Sarah growled.

The voice finally continued. "I desided to go with something classic, I'd bring back pirates. They would threaten her and then I'd rush in and save her. I created the storm of the century in their world and then opened up the portal to see what kind of hell I'd unleashed. Wind, sand, and water rushed in and then 'he' showed up."

"Stupid plan..." Sarah muttered. Then what the voice said clicked and she turned to Luffy who only shrugged in return.

"You see how he has muscle and a semi-hardened look to him, the scar as an added bonus... I figured he'd be dangerous. So, I flew near the harbor and dropped him into the water where I knew she'd spot him, being the observent person she is. That part went to plan... but I never expected him to be a friendly pirate!" the voice cried. "When I seen him help her and carry her to get her knee fixed, I knew I'd done something wrong, so I desided to test him."

"It was you abusing that puppy!" Sarah cried. Luffy growled.

The voice laughed. "Oh, you're good. Yes, it was me. After he beat me and my two hunters, I knew that my plan had failed so I had to think of another way to get you. I annoyed you at school in one of my many ways to try and find a weakness in him. It seemed that you, of all things, were his weakness. That's when Plan B kicked in. Remember the Day of the Dead Festival? That was a distraction, something to wear you down. We turned to shadows and followed you to Anna's and waited for the perfect oppertunity to strike... and we got it as soon as Luffy left the room. Why is beyond me but we got you. You, my dear dear girl, were the bait. Sarah... I knew that if I took you, then your friends were sure to follow. So, I figured why not kill 2 birds with one stone. I can kill all of them, get them out of my way, and have you at the same time. That way nobody can stop us from being together!" The voice paused. "Oh yes, and Marius. I know of your plans you twit. And I'll hear no more of them. "

Suddenly, Marius grabbed his head and began screaming. Gage took a couple steps back and everyone watched the hunter collapse to his knees, Then it happened. His head exploded. Sissy screamed, Anna felt nautious, and Sarah just stared. She was stunned to say the least but she recovered quickly. "Wow... Mark I must admit. I didn't think you had the brain capacity to plan something like this."

Sure enough, Mark emerged from the shadows wearing long black robes. He had a dead look under his eyes and his nails were more like claws. The mere sight of him caused her to take a step back. Mark turned his eyes to Gage, "Looks like I'm more of a Dark Lord than you now, huh brother?"

"You wish you were related to me, Mark. You fucked everyone you ever considered to be your sister so I guess it'd be the same with a brother." Gage smirked. "Which I'll have no part of."

Mark waved his hand and Gage flew backwards a bit. He landed on his feet and quickly took up his fighting position. "I don't expect any of you to leave here alive. Get them! Do what you wish with them but Sarah is mine!"

"Run!" Sarah screamed to Sissy and Anna as hunters flew at them. They dodged as Kaden and Mike lunged at the hunters.

A hunter grabbed Sarah by her hair and lifted her up off the ground. She spun and kicked him in the gut and using a bit of teamwork, Luffy's fist came out of nowhere and hit the hunter in the face causing him to drop Sarah. She landed ass first on the ground.

The sound of metal clashing against metal came from across the room. Gage and a random hunter were battling it out, their swords only a dark metallic blur in the dim light.

oooooooooo

Little did anyone know, in the harbor which was miles away, some certain crew members had just washed up on shore. Coughing and sputtering, they struggled to regain their breath. Zoro recovered first and took in the surroundings. A storm was raging in the distance and the wind was beginning to pick up. The sky was darkening quickly and it seemed to him as if the storm were spreading.

"I don't know where we are or even if he's here... but why do I get the feeling that Luffy is somehow the cause of that?" Zoro asked to nobody inperticular.

"Probably because he is." Nami stated as she surveyed the storm. "Wind is steady at 35 mph and picking up speed. At this rate, a hurricane could form right here within the next few hours... and one forming that quickly could kill thousands of innocent people."

Usopp whined. "D-Don't tell me... we gotta go into th... that thing?!" he stuttered and then laughed nervously when Nami glared from her spot next to him. "I, The Great Captain Usopp will lead _my_ crew to vict-!"

And he was cut off by a nice hit to the head by the rest of his nakama.

"_This is not your crew, moron_!" Sanji, and Zoro yelled simoutaniously.

Nami looked on sternly and shifted her eyes away from the storm to her nakama. "Guys! We don't have time for this, the wind is picking up and we need to get to the center of that thing before it becomes too strong! Luffy might be here somewhere! We have to find him..." She stated. Everyone nodded and ran up the slope, hardly anyone was on the road and like Luffy, not a single one of them knew what a car was.

"Well then, we'll learn." Nami had stated and forced... ahem... asked Usopp to 'kindly' get the thing running and after a bit of improvising, the car was working... well, with the window wipers going non-stop, the radio blasting opera, and the car lights on bright, they were ready to go.

The battle had begun.


	8. Gunpowder

Chapter 8

Gage was busy going on a massacre and he was laughing about it. Another hunter flew at him, and Gage beheaded it. "Skull-fuck the enemy!"

He ran down another hallway and caught a glimpse of Kaden spearing one hunter and Anna throwing shurikin at another before he came to a dead end. He turned around only to find about four of the fuckers running at him. He growled and took up his fighting stance. "I'm Rick James, bitch!" he cried as he ran at them in a head on battle. His sword once again becomming a blur of movement.

ooooooooooo

Mike's fist connected with the hunters face as Sissy watched on in fear and fasination. She never knew Mike was so strong... well she knew she just never seen him in action. He tossed another one over his shoulder and a third attacked Sissy. She growled, turned around, and kicked it in the nuts... twice. "Go save the rainforest by fucking a damn tree mother fucker!" she screamed and kicked it again...

She only stopped when she heard Mike laughing, she spun around to face him. "I never knew you could get so violent." he laughed.

"Nobody messes with me or any of my friends. These bastards have caused enough shit and it's time to fight!" she cried while raising her fist into the air.

Mike's eyes narrowed. "Good, keep it up cause here come some more!"

Sissy's eyes narrowed as well. "Damn, like a bunch of fucking roaches, _god_..."

oooooooooooo

"How in the hell did I get myself into this?" Sarah muttered from her hiding spot... which happened to be under a bunch of unused canvas. You see... everyone had split up, trying to win their own personal fights. Sarah, not having much strength left, dove into the only hiding spot she could find which was where she was currently at... and the hunters were blowing up everything in the room in order to snuff her out. If she exposed herself, she faced sudden death but if she stayed hidden, she faced sudden death.

What was a girl to do?

Simple, observe and escape. She quickly scanned the room for any means of escape. A window next to her, a few crates across from the window, and the canvas she was currently hiding in... and one by one the crates were being destroyed. Sarah began to panic, she kept drawing a blank.

And then she had an idea. She gulped, it was a one shot thing and at this rate, she had to take the shot. It had never been tried and before this it wouldn't work that well... she bit her lip. 'Now or never...' she thought.

With that, she jumped out of the canvas. "Hey assholes! Over here!" she cried as both hunters whirled around in suprise. In the blink of an eye Sarah dove away from the canvas, rolled and stopped infront of the window. She quickly glanced the door which was directly behind the hunters, and the window behind her. The hunters before her and solid walls on either side of her. Sarah threw her hand backwards and with the other clicked the lighter on. A swirling disk formed in her right hand.

"Get her!" cried one of them and they both raised their hands and fired. Shadows raced toward her and Sarah gulped and threw the fire disk. The hunters moved, the shadows going off course. The fire disk hit the crates behind them.

Sarah grinned, the hunters screamed.

The room exploded in an ear shattering explosion.

ooooooooooo

Luffy had just royally beat the shit out of every hunter that came at him and was running in the direction he remembered seeing Sarah run. That's when he spotted him. "MARK!" he cried and the evil son of a bitch merely turned around and smiled. "_**Gum-Gum Pistol!**_"

Luffy's fist flew right through Mark, who slithered away in his shadow form. "Oh no you don't!" cried Luffy as he chased the shadow down many hallways before something caught the attention of his ears.

"Get her!"

Luffy skidded to a hault and walked backwards to peek in a doorway. He saw Sarah and was about to rush in when she fired a fire disk at the crates. Luffy screamed and dove to the side as it hit the crates... and the last look he saw on Sarah's face was her grin before the whole room exploded. Smoke billowed down the hallways along with ash.

"Sarah!" Luffy coughed and gasped.

oooooooooooo

Gage met up with Anna and Kaden and together they made their way toward Mike and Sissy. When they found them, they were comfronted with an entire army, or so it seemed, of hunters. Gage and Kaden grinned and threw themselves into the malee, Anna sighed and desided to spare her darts unless she really needed them.

"24-25-26..." Kaden counted as he broke a hunters neck.

"30-31-32..." Gage counted as well. "Ha, beyotch! I'm in the lead! Say 'Mister Beefy'! 33-34..."

"Go fuck yourself!" Kaden cried as he broke anothers spine. "32..."

Anna shook her head in dispair. But that's when it happened, smoke billowed through the hallway blinding everyone. Coughs and desprate gasps for air filled the hallway.

"What the hell?" Sissy cried as she rubbed the ash and dirt from around her eyes.

"I don't know..." Mike coughed.

"Well lets see here!" yelled Gage from across the room. "Kaden, Anna, myself, you and Sissy are here. Who's missing?"

"Luffy!" answered Anna.

"Sarah!" cried Sissy.

"Well then lets finish this so we can find them!" Kaden said as he threw a hunter across the room.

ooooooooooo

Luffy grabbed the wall and slowly got to his feet, a loud ringing was still in his ears and he could barely see anything. He staggered over to the huge hole in the wall, bits of the old wood had small flames on them but those were being blown out by a steady flow of wind billowing through. Luffy was afraid of the results of this... and it felt as if he'd been stabbed in the chest repeatedly. He looked through the hole...

Nothing remained of that section of the building. His eyes turned glassy.

"I'm too late..." he whispered.


	9. Reinforcements

Chapter 9

"Watch out!" Nami screamed as Usopp quickly jerked the wheel to the left.

"Don't do that! You could have got us all killed, Crap-Driver!" Sanji screamed in his ear and his teeth seemed alot sharper than usual.

Usopp was driving, of course, Nami and Sanji were playing the roles of backseat drivers, and to top it off... Zoro was sleeping.

"If you think it's so easy then you drive you wench!" Usopp screamed as he went 50 around a corner and swerved to avoid hitting a mailbox.

Sanji promptly kicked him in the head. "Don't you call my Nami-san a wench you Crap Hotdog-Nose!"

"How long did it take you to come up with that one, Love Cook?!"

"Unless you want food poisoning, I advise you to shut the fuck up!"

Nami paled, Usopp had taken his eyes off the road and there was some kind of flying object headed straight for them. "Usopp..." Nami squeeked as she tapped Usopp on the shoulder.

Zoro had noticed the change in her voice and curiously opened his eyes to see the cause of this new lovely sound of fear in her. He paled as well. "_Usopp_." They both said.

Sanji froze and noticed it as well whilst Usopp continued to rant and rave. "...And who hotwired this thing so we could find Luffy? Me-!"

"_**Usopp**_!!!" They all screamed and finally the sharpshooter turned around... and screamed. "_We're gonna die_!"

And suddenly, it began circling the car... and the car began spinning in 360 degree circles before crashing into a sand bank. Everyone felt just a bit sick after that so they all crawled slowly out of the car moaning from motion-sickness.

Suddenly, a thump was heard and what sounded like footsteps. Zoro's eyes came into focus and he looked ahead of him.

"No way..." he said.

Walking toward them was a girl with long blonde hair and golden eyes. She was wearing a green bathing suit top with one strap broken and hanging limply at her side so it looked almost like a one strapped shirt. Her black capris had one leg ripped off on the opposite side so it almost would have looked like a new trend with sandals to match... except for the gashes, scrapes, cuts, bruises, and burns that covered her body. Blood dripped from her forehead and her mouth as she approached them.

The girl didn't say anything, she stopped a few feet away from them and observed them all, her eyes wandered to the 3 swords hanging at Zoro's side and she smirked. Before Zoro could ask one question, she pointed to a warehouse that was only about a 100 yards behind her... and smoking as well. "Luffy's in there. There's a big battle going on." she said. Her calm voice caught everyone's attention.

"How do you know our captain?" asked Zoro, one hand resting on all 3 sword hilts.

She smiled, "Because I saved him." she said as she fearlessly approached him and held out her hand. "I'm Sarah. You must be Zoro, Luffy's told me so much about you."

"How do we know we can trust you?" asked Sanji, "How do we know you're not gonna try to kill us or something?"

Sarah sighed, "I have to get the proof after the battle." she grinned, "I had to steal it from an antique shop. They had that straw hat of his sitting in a display case so I broke into it, took the hat, and we ran from the shop. His name is Monkey D. Luffy, he has black eyes and hair and has a scar under his left eye. He usually wears a red vest with blue jean shorts am I right? He eats alot, rarely gets angry, strickly knows the boundary between right and wrong, his ship is the Merry Go? You all sail the Grand Line because you want to find the One Piece and achieve your own dreams at the same time? And he has devil fruit powers - he ate the gum-gum fruit..."

Zoro smirked with a murderous look in his eyes and for a moment Sarah thought it was directed at her but then he looked toward the warehouse. "Lead us to him!"

"With pleasure. He's missed you all." Sarah said as she leapt into the air.

ooooooooooo

Luffy sank to his knees and for the first time since Shanks left, tears streamed down his face. Sarah'd killed herself to try and save everyone... he punched the floor and left a hole in it. If only he'd rushed in and stopped her...

If only...

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him. Luffy jumped up and spun around, aiming a punch at whoever it was standing there. Gage dove to the side just in time to see Luffy's fist shatter the wall behind him. Gage knew then who had caused the explosion and he sighed while clenching his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white. He looked around. Everyone had come so far and fought so hard to save her... only to fail. He turned his head to look at them... and by the look in their eyes he knew they knew as well.

And it was all because of Mark that this had happened anyways.

Mark.

"Lets go." said Gage as he turned to the side and began walking back down the hallway.

"What?!" They all cried as they turned to face him. That had definantly caught their attention.

"What do you mean 'lets go'? Sarah could still be alive!" Luffy cried as he stood up.

"Nobody could survive an explosion like that." Gage stated, "Even I couldn't and it's impossible for me to die, Luffy. Trust me, I've tried everything and it's impossible. Right now we're going to go and avenge her."

"How?" asked Sissy.

"We're going after Mark... and I know exactly where he's at." Gage explained.

"Lets get him." said Kaden as he cracked his knuckles, Mike joining him.

Anna grinned as she held up a dart. "It's going in his pee-hole." Sissy, while crossing her arms, nodded in agreement.

Gage nodded. "Ready Luffy?"

They all turned around only to find Luffy staring off into space with a dead look in his eyes. "Luffy?" Sissy asked timidly.

Gage's eyes widened. "He's lost the will to fight... his soul is dying..." he said.

"No... he can't die!" Anna cried.

"I can't stop it. They're bonded though I don't know how or even when but without her, he'll die. They've become one." Gage said.

"You have to try!" Sissy agreed, Gage turned to her.

"_How_? _With what_? I have no idea how to undo something like that!" he argued. "I'd love to have Sarah _alive_ right now! She's like the little fucking sister I never had! I miss her so damn much and it hasn't even been a half hour yet, but there's nothing I can do to stop his demise cause she's the only one who can. I'm sorry..."

Sissy dropped to her knees and broke down crying. Mike tried his best to comfort her and make her laugh but he knew there was nothing he could do to bring Sarah back.

And without her, they would all die.

ooooooooooo

Sarah landed before the main doors and only had to wait for a split second before Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami showed up. "Ready?" she asked as she turned to face them.

"Now or never." said Zoro as Sanji nodded.

Sarah nodded. "Stand back." she ordered as she swung her hand back. A disasterous fireball formed around her fist. She launched it at the door and blew them clean apart. "MARK!" she hollared, her voice echoing off the walls.

And before them, in the center of the room appeared Mark in all his glory.


	10. The Whetting Stone Of Your Sword

Chapter 10

Friends have always given Luffy the strength he needed to get through any fight.

They were his greatest strength, his fuel behind everything.

Even the fuel to accomplish his life long dream. To be the King of the Pirates.

However they were also his greatest weakness.

The one thing that could hurt him the most... and now he knew it.

Luffy had just lost a friend.

The said pirate Luffy closed his eyes, the pain was unbareable. It was almost ten times worse than when Sarah was kidnapped by that hunter. If only he'd interviened or dove in and sheltered her from the flames, or beat up the hunters... or arrived at the room sooner... or... or...

'Or what?' he thought miserably, 'You couldn't have done anything because Mark was in the way.'

This was all because of Mark in the first place. If Mark was never there then Sarah would still be alive... and everything would be ok. They would be swimming at that pool at the festival or enjoying the sea and the stars. Perhaps she'd even be with him and his crew...

His Nakama. For all he knew Mark had killed them too.

And his Nakama were all he had. Mark had stolen everything from him.

'It's all Mark's fault...' he thought darkly, 'I'll kill him... just like he killed me.'

"MARK!" A voice echoed off the empty grey walls. Luffy's eyes flew open, 'It can't be... Gage even said nobody could survive an explosion like that... but...'

"What was that?" asked Sissy in a low squeeky voice. Luffy's eyes traveled to all of them.

"I don't know." answered Anna.

"Then lets go find out, shall we?" offered Gage.

"Yeah, there's just one problem with that." responded Mike. "Luffy."

All eyes turned to Luffy at that second and everyone got a suprise. Luffy was cracking his knuckles.

"Luffy?" asked Kaden.

"Lets _go_." he said, emphasizing the word 'go.' Everyone suddenly became very nervous, Luffy had a dark look in his eyes... like he couldn't hear anyone at all. Like nobody was even there.

"All he can think of right now... is killing Mark." muttered Gage.

"Does that look mean he's ready to fight?" asked Kaden who was the only one close enough to Gage to be able to hear him. Gage nodded and silently, they all ran down the warehouse's dark grey/ black hallways, following the noise.

ooooooooooo

Sarah didn't bother with any smartass remarks. She didn't bother to explain why she was alive, or who the people were behind her. She didn't bother with the bull shit introductions either, she just attacked.

"Cutting right to the point, are we?" Mark taunted, "Fine, lets begin."

Mark turned into a shadow and Sarah flew right through him. While she flipped and regained her footing, Mark did something she didn't quite expect. He split himself into two.

"No matter how many of you there are, Mark, I won't let you win!" she cried as she attacked yet again. Mark smirked and laughed in a dark low voice. The two of him split up. Sarah came to an abrupt hault in the center of the room and looked from the one standing to the left of her to the one flying up into the air. She desided to finish off the flying one first. The flying one suddenly dove at her, claws extended. Right as Sarah was about to attack, the one to the left of her attacked as well, claws extended. Sarah watched in horror as the second one flew at her, she couldn't fight them both! She braced herself for the impact and was shocked when Zoro dove and tackled the second one. Sarah smiled with appreciation and turned her attention back to the air born one.

It was a good thing she did too. Just as she turned, the thing was upon her. She dove to the side as it hit the ground next to her. "Awww, what's the matter? Tired already?" Mark taunted.

"Yes..." she said between clenched teeth, "I am tired..."

Mark closed his eyes and laughed. That was all Sarah needed as she kicked him right off his feet and sent him skidding across the ground. "I'm tired of seeing your face!"

Mark growled. "Fine, if that's how it is. I regret having to hurt you but if that's the only way to show you where your place is then so be it!" And he ran at her...

Only to be hit with his other self. Laughing erupted and everyone's eyes turned to Zoro. "You are a dumbass. You split yourself into two halfs and you forget about one!" he laughed. Sarah smiled and suddenly fell to one knee as everything spun for a moment. She grabbed her head as sweat rolled down her face. "What was that..?" she asked as she slowly stood up.

"You've lost too much blood." explained Sanji as he walked over and stood infront of her. "I don't know who this crap-moron is, but nobody hurts a lady. Especially a pretty one."

Sarah smiled. "Flattery will get you nowhere." she chuckled weakly. Sanji grinned.

"This is all very touching, but I have a bitch to make mine." growled Mark as he formed back into one. He turned into a shadow and raced across the floor at Sarah and Sanji.

Sanji growled and went to attack, but Sarah stopped him. "He's a shadow..." she said, and suddenly grinned. "That's it! He's a _shadow_..."

"What are you gonna do?" asked Sanji, "You don't have alot of strength."

"You're right I don't." she agreed, "But I have enough for this..."

Sarah flew up into the air and held up her hand. A small fireball formed but that wasn't enough. She concentrated and slowly, it began to grow bigger.

Zoro stared, dumbfounded. He was confused, she couldn't hit him because you can't hit shadows... but as the fireball began to get bigger, he noticed that he had a shadow. He held out his arm, his shadow did the same thing... and he smirked. "Brilliant."

Zoro quickly ran at Mark, Kuina's sword in hand. Just as Mark was about to attack, Zoro's shadow sword cut into Mark's shadow form. There was a scream and Mark reappeared, bleeding pretty badly from a huge gash in his shoulder. "How in the hell..?"

Sanji grinned, "Soccer anyone?" he asked as he walked toward Mark. Mark went to run but found that he was surrounded. If he tried to turn into a shadow, he'd just be hit by their shadows. If only he could take away their shadows...

Mark looked up at Sarah... and the source of light. And suddenly, he had a pretty good idea...

Nami attacked first knocking Mark to the floor with her staff, and Usopp took aim. That's when Mark struck. He grabbed Usopp and pushed him so he fired at Nami. She screamed and dove to the side and standing right there was Mark, as if he had anticipated her move. He kicked Nami in the face so she flew backwards quite a distance. Sanji attacked next but Mark froze him in mid attack and threw him. Zoro and Mark glared eachother down and finally, Zoro attacked. Mark grabbed Kuina's sword by the hilt, jumped up and to the side of Zoro, spun, and kicked him in the back. Zoro flew into the floor and Mark now had a weapon. Before anyone of them could recover, Mark threw the sword at Sarah and it dug into her side.


	11. Possession?

Chapter 11

Nobody moved.

Nobody seemd to make a sound.

It seemed to happen in slow motion, the blood flying from the huge wound in her side, her eyes closing, and the way she fell to the ground like deadweight. Her breath escaped her lungs in a long sigh and the trance seemed to break with the sound of the impact - the crunching of broken bones. It echoed off the walls for a split second before there was a low growl. All eyes turned to Zoro and anything Mark was about to comment on was ripped from his mind. Zoro had made sure of this with a simple but effective move: The Psychopathic Glare.

Mark even went so far as to take a step or two backwards as Zoro started slowly but calmly walking toward him, the glare still upon his face. "You used my sword." Zoro growled, "_My_ sword... to harm an innocent girl. Nobody has ever fought with that sword, but me, and lived to tell about it... and I'm not about to break that trend now. You've disrespected my honor by using my sword to harm an innocent person and for that the penalty is death."

"Well I could care less about the sword, but I can't let nobody get away who's hurt a pretty lady. I mean, the first mate here pisses me off pretty bad sometimes... but compared to an obsessed womanizing crap-druid... well... even he'll do." Sanji agreed as he loosened his tie. "You'll have to die."

Nami took this as the perfect oppertunity to sneak down the hallway. Upon making it, she quickly launched herself into a run. 'Luffy has to be around here somewhere! Once he see's what's happeend, he'll be sure to take care of this!' Her eys narrowed and a devilish grin spread across her face, 'Then I can loot this place of every valuable thing it has!'

ooooooooooo

"Damn it." Gage growled. He looked from his left to his right... and slammed his head into the nearest wall. It was pointless... they were lost and running around in circles.

Well, they'ed heard a loud bang, as if something had hit the ground hard. They had thought they were close because of how loud the noise was... and then it went silent.

Unusually silent.

And since then, upon having no noise to follow to where the fight was, they've been running around in circles.

"This is driving me insane." Mike hissed.

"Well then." Kaden growled as he paced back and fourth, causing the floor boards to creak. "_Join the fucking club_."

Mike growled so Kaden turned to face him. They began glaring eachother down untill Anna and Sissy interviened. The girls seperated the boys and once again the silence settled in.

Or so they thought.

"Come on out, Nami." Luffy commanded.

ooooooooooo

"Damn it." A voice growled.

Nami came to a hault. 'They might be the friends Sarah was telling us about.'

She slowly crept along the charred and termite infested walls. There, now she could hear a banging noise... like someone was hitting a wall or tapping their feet on the floor. 'Luffy?'

Nami wondered for a fleeting second if it was her captain. But if it was, he sure had a very deep voice.

Then she heard another voice speak, they were whispering... as if they were afraid to be heard.

"This is driving me insane." It whispered. Both male voices.

"Well then." Another one growled, "_Join the fucking club_."

Nami peeked around the corner, making sure she was covered by the shadows. She could see the group now. The banging noise was comming from a tall blonde guy with a bear tattoo on his shoulder. He was banging his head on the wall. The other voices were comming, not from Luffy, she noted, but from two other males. One had very short dirty blonde hair and the other had short black hair. It looked as if they were about to fight; they were both facing eachother and growling.

And suddenly, two girls seperated the boys from eachother.

One of the girls was not fat but had those cheeks that you wanted to pinch all the time. She had curly brown hair and wore glasses. Atop her head was a black bandana with pink metallic dragons all over it. She walked over to the guy with the dirty blonde hair and grabbed his arm, slowly dragging him away from the other guy.

The second girl walked over to the guy with the black hair and lead him away from the argument. She had short dirty blonde hair and she wore glasses as well.

'What an odd group of people. They're friends but they're about to fight?'

And then it happened. "Come on out, Nami."

Nami froze. She'd been caught. But she knew only someone from her crew knew how she opperated. She slowly came out from the shadows and faced Luffy. "Luffy?" she asked.

Her captain looked different. He wasn't grinning or being stupid. He wasn't laughing or... anything. It was as if he'd died. Nami quickly recovered from her momentary shock and remembered one of the reasons she'd sneaked off.

"Luffy!" she exclaimed and ran over, ignoring the five pairs of eyes watching her warily. "There's a fight at the entrance of the building. Some guy who can fly and turn into shadows!"

Nami took a step back when her captain let out a growl. "Luffy?" she all but squeaked.

"Is there a blonde girl down there?" asked another voice. Nami turned to face the blonde guy. "Yes." she answered. "But she's badly injured! She needs help!" she quickly added.

Gage looked to Luffy. The captain nodded and faster than Nami could even begin to comprehend, the group took off toward the entrance.

Luffy paused a short distance from her. He looked back for a split second, a small appreciative smile on his face, before he raced off.

Nami stood there, blinked a couple of times, and ran off in search of any valuables the place had.

oooooooooo

"Oni-Guri!" Zoro cried as his three swords slashed at Mark.

Or at what would be Mark if he'd stop turning into a goddamn shadow. That's what had been going on ever since Zoro retrieved his sword and had been attacking Mark with Sanji's help. They needed Sarah's light. Without it, Mark could block just about any attack. Suddenly, his feet left the ground and the swordsman was sent flying. He'd been caught off guard again! Luckily, his brain began working and he landed on his feet just in time to see Sanji land a nice kick across Mark's face. 'There's one hit to Mark's fifty...' Zoro thought irritably.

He glanced to where Sarah had fallen. 'Nobody has ever used Kuina's sword to harm innocent people and I'm not gonna let the trend start here and now...'

Zoro rushed at Mark, who was paying more attention to Sanji than himself, and grinned. "Tiger..."

Mark spun around, but it was to late.

"Hunt!" Zoro cried and his swords finally made contact!

Mark fell to the ground as Zoro came to a hault next to Sanji. "Wow, I guess like a sack of potatoes, you come in handy at the last minute." Zoro stared blankly at him. "Like when we eat potatoes when there's nothing left, you fight at the last minute-"

"You... cut me..." Mark gasped as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. "You cut... me!"

"Yea, I did." Zoro snapped. "So stop crying like a big baby, get over it, and fight us or else we're gonna stomp your ass."

"You wanna fight, you'll get one-" Mark started but was cut off by the sound of gasping and coughing.

All eyes turned toward Sarah who rolled over onto her good side and coughed up blood. Zoro tensed for some reason and turned around just in time to be shoved out of the way by Mark, who was running full speed toward the blonde girl.

"Look out!" Sanji cried as he ran after Mark.

Cursing, Zoro chased the two of them. Sarah could only brace herself, if she even had the strength for that.

She was completely defensless.

Sanji and Zoro barely managed to lunge at Mark because of his speed. Right when Mark was upon Sarah, Zoro tackled him from behind and the two went rolling across the wooden floor. Mark and Zoro grappled for a bit, it was a neck and neck rolling contest to see who could pin the other first when Mark went into shadow form again and Zoro was left laying there in a cofused manner.

However, the confused manner only lasted a split second before Zoro realised what happened.

Zoro leaped to his feet and spun around, Mark was nowhere to be seen. His eyes darted to where Sanji was making sure Sarah was ok. Where was Mark..?

Suddenly, a dark mist began to swirl around Sarah and Sanji and all of Zoro's senses went to red alert. He ran toward Sanji. "Sanji! Look out!" he cried. Sanji looked up and screamed as Zoro lunged at him, barely managing to get the cook to safety before the floor exploded beneith Sarah. Smoke billowed out from the area and everyone shielded their eyes, coughing.

"The girl-" Sanji started while gasping and coughing for air.

"Belongs to me." Came Mark's voice.

Sanji's eyes instantly scanned the area from which the sound was dispersed. As the smoke thinned, Sanji saw Mark standing there with an unconscoius Sarah laying limply in his arms. The bastard then started to laugh as he levitated from the ground. "Is this the best you all can do? Pathetic. Not only did you fail to stop me, you failed to save the girl. She is mine now... and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

A black mist began to swirl around him as he laughed, continuing to levitate even higher from the ground.

"Sanji, Zoro do something!" Usopp screamed from across the room, "He's going to disappear again!"

Sanji glanced Zoro and with a nod they ran at Mark. The mist swirled about the demon man and with horror, they realized that they wern't going to make it. They failed... Sarah was going to be forced to be with this man. It was over... and for the first time the Straw-Hat Pirates were going to face defeat...

"_**Mark**_!" A voice cut through the air like a siren. There was no warning as a rubber fist flew through the remaining dust and mist and hit Mark right between the eyes. The blow hit him so hard, he flew backwards dropping Sarah. The young girl plummeted head first toward the ground.

Nobody could move.

However they all knew that another blow like that would kill her.


	12. Please Help Us

Chapter 12

Luffy's mind was racing.

Sarah was still alive?

How?

When?

Later. Right now, Mark was going to die. Running toward the entrance to the building, Luffy flung his arms out before him and grabbed both sides of the door frame. Mark was within sight... "Gum-Gum Rocket!" he cried and with a fimuliar tug, he was flung into the air. Mark was disappearing! No! He wouldn't take Sarah!

'He's evil... I'll clobber him... I won't let him take her...'

With the wind rushing through his ears, Luffy screamed. "_**Mark**_!"

And then the pirate captain felt all warm and fuzzy inside for a split second as his fist smashed into Mark's face. As his instincts began to kick in, he prepared for the drop to the ground. He heard something... somebody was saying something. There, they said it again!

"Luffy! Catch her!" Zoro cried.

Luffy's eyes darted toward a plumetting blur of green and his body flew into autopilot. Rubbery arms flung themselves backwards before shooting toward the falling girl. As they reached her, Luffy jerked them backwards and finally, Sarah was safe in his arms. Luffy noted his crew's look of relief as he landed. He examined the young girl, noting all of her injuries and how her breathing was uneven... and a sudden rage began to fill him. Zoro calmly approached his captain and held out his arms. Luffy glanced him and nodded, carefully handing Sarah over to his first mate. She groaned and clenched her side.

"Mark..." Luffy growled dangerously and faster than anybody could comprehend, Luffy launched himself at Mark. That druid had never even seen the pirate captain comming for no sooner did he get to his feet did Luffy's Gum-Gum Whip slam him into a wall back first. The wall splintered upon impact, but that didn't stop Luffy... it never even registered with the captain as he slammed his fist into Mark's nose before grabbing him by the throat and throwing him across the room. Luffy raced after him and prepared his fists for a disasterous blow. "_**Gum-Gum Gatling Gu-!**_"

"_**Stop**_!" A voice screamed.

Luffy skidded to a hault and whipped his head toward the entrance.

There stood Nami, panting and full of sweat, holding up a leather bound, tattered book.

"Gages... diary?" Whispered a weak voice. Zoro glanced down and his eyebrow raised in slight suprise, 'Damn. Here I thought Nami was stubborn...'

Sarah was awake.

"Yes." Nami panted. "Gage's diary. Or should I say the _traitor's_ diary?"

"Traitor?" Anna asked.

"Yes. Traitor." Nami answered.

"I've done nothing but help you all... how am I possibly a traitor?" Gage asked.

Nami glared at him and cleared her throat as she flipped through the pages of the book. "Here we go. July 4, 2005. I believe I've found a solution to my newest delima: Kristen's new friend. She's powerful... very powerful. Powerful enough to pass on my offspring. She's the only one that can, but how can I get her to see the light? To fall for me? I would prefer her to do it willingly... rape is such a strong word.

"December 5, 2005. Sarah is supposed to visit me this weekend. I still can't seem to be of any interrest to her. No matter what she always seems to fall even more in love with Nathan." Nami then stopped and held up a newspaper article. "December 15, 2005. Nathan Taylor died earlier today due to a tragic car accident. The car he was riding in had no brakes..."

Gage glared at Nami, who smirked and continued. "January 25, 2006. She still isn't over his death. I don't see what was so interresting about him. I mean, c'mon, so I cut the brakes. It's okay if nobody knows, right? A small deed for passing on the power of my bloodline? My lineage? Can't she see how much power she has within her? It aggrivates me to no end that she continues to view me as just a friend... it also aggrivates me at how much power she has and she chooses to help people! The same people that called her a freak all in the same! Why in the world would she help them when she could benefit herself? She could have just about anything she wanted... and anyone, but her beauty is just an added bonus. I must have her to complete my plans... she is a crucial key to them! I must have her... and nothing and nobody will stop me..."

Nami sighed sarcastically and flipped through some more pages. "Ahhh, yes, we can't forget this now can we? March 17, 2006. I've had it. She has left me no choice but to bring others into this. Who better than to get someone who worships the ground I walk on? Mark would be perfect..." She flipped some more. "May 10, 2006. That damn pirate keeps interferring with everything! Nothing my pawn does helps and to make it worse, the one girl I want is being pulled further away from me! I will have her power... and I will have it no matter what... Mark will deliver her to me... no matter what he has to do or say, he will deliver her to me. Sarah is too good to just simply let go. I'll use her forever... she's mine!"

Nami slammed the book shut and silently, along with everyone else, waited for a response from Gage.

Gage stood there and finally sighed as he made eye contact with Sarah. "It's all true." He said as a multitude of responses filled the room. "After I couldn't get her, I brainwashed Mark. He did my bidding... alas now it seems I have no further use for him."

A scream of pain filled the room and all eyes suddenly shot toward the before mentioned shadow maker. A black mist was surrounding him and slowly, his fesh was peeling off! Nami covered her eyes as Sanji ran toward her. Zoro held it in. Sarah gripped the white fabric of the swordsmans shirt, watching the scene before her as silent tears ran down her face. Luffy stood there, expressionless, his eyes shadowed. Slowly, the screams intensified, and Gage's laughter was mixed in. "I am the most powerful man alive! Nothing and nobody will stop me from getting what I want! And I always get what I want."

"Gage?" Mark cried, "Why?!"

"You were the perfect pawn. Alas, you are no longer a necessity and I have no further use for you." Gage stated simply.

"B-but-!" Mark stuttered. "You brainwashed me! How could I not-"

"She did not fancy you and therefore you could not deliver her to me!" Gage snapped as a black mist began to swallow Mark. "She fell for the goddamn pirate insted and foiled my plans... and you know as well as I do that without her, I cannot complete my plans. I cannot continue my bloodline and claim my rightful place. I need her power, her skills... she is a necessity and you did not bring her to me!"

With that, the mist swallowed Mark completely. All that was left were his bones.

The silence that filled the room was only broken by the gusting winds of the hurricane raging on outside. Nobody could find the words that quite fit the situation they were in.

'Gage... after all this time, it was Gage who was actually the cause of everything?' Sarah's mind screamed.

Gage... who since she had known him had told her that her fighting skills were excellent.

Told her that her power was unique and that she should use it as she see's fit...

Told her that everyone would try and steal her powers. That she'd be safest with him, along with Anna and the rest of their "family."

Told her that Mark was evil and couldn't be trusted.

Told her that he just wanted to make the world a better place and that he needed their help to do it.

Told her that Anna and everyone else had lost their powers because of _Krissy_... because she was evil.

'All along... he only wanted our powers... my powers... just to make himself stronger...'

"Zoro..." Sarah growled from both pain and anger. "Please, put me down for a moment..?"

Zoro nodded and slowly set Sarah on her feet and made sure she could stand. She was wobbly, but she somehow managed.

Sarah made eye contact with Gage and he blinked in suprise at the anger there. "You..." She growled. "You _killed_ Nathan..? Why..?"

"Yes." Gage answered simply. "He was in my way."

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. "And you caused all of this... you almost chased away my friends, my family..." Her eyes flew open and they were no longer the beautiful gold he adored.

'Her eyes... they're completely black...' He thought in horror.

"_**You almost killed them**_!" She screamed as a blast of wind slammed into Gage and sent him sailing into a far wall.

Gage bounced off the wall and landed on the ground as little bits of debris fell around him. He shakingly got to his feet. 'When... did she get this strong..?'

Sarah took a deep breath and scanned the room. She was slightly suprised to find that none of her friends or Luffy's crew had run away by now. 'Why would they?' Her conscience asked. 'They live like this every day. Each day could be their last and they face life as it is. This is just another test to them...' Her eyes flicked back to Gage. "You're gonna pay for this. For everything you've done... you'll pay dearly..."

Sarah staggered a bit and Zoro caught her by the arm. 'This battle is draining her. We've got to finish this soon.'

"Zoro." Came a voice. The first mate turned to face his captain. "I'll take it from here."

"Luffy."

Luffy turned to face Sarah who was grinning weakly. She slowly stood up. "My bag."

The pirate captain handed her abused red backpack and she grinned as she unzipped it. "Luffy..."

"Huh?"

Sarah pulled out a stitched up straw hat and firmly placed it on Luffy's head before her legs gave out. He caught her with ease and slowly lowered her to the ground while still holding her.

She'd lost too much blood.

Consciousness was comming in waves.

Sarah looked up at Luffy as everything darkened. "Please... Help us..."


	13. I'll Come Back To You!

Chapter 13

Luffy stared at the now unconscious girl. Not since the fight with Arlong was he filled with such a fierce sadness and anger. Not since that day, the day he witnessed Nami stab herself in the arm in a vain attempt to rid herself of the pain, had he been at such a loss for words.

Not since that day has someone outwardly asked for his help.

For a desprate attempt to live.

Luffy could feel the vein throbbing in his forehead as Arlong's voice suddenly rang through his mind.

_'Think you can use that girl better than I can?'_

The pirate captain felt his knuckles tense as all circulation seemed cut off to his fists at that moment.

_'She's more of a spirited kitten really...'_

He shut his eyes and exhaled. He reached for his hat and slowly removed it from his head.

_'Luffy.'_ Rang Shanks voice. _'This hat means alot to me. Promise me you'll return it to me... when you've become a great pirate.'_

Luffy opened his eyes, gazed at his hat for a long moment, and slowly placed it on Sarah's chest before slowly standing. He glanced around the room at everyone. All of Sarah's friends were staring back at him, a desperate look in their eyes... a cry for help. He stared at them, at the injuries they sustained to save Sarah.

To save the only one who could possibly set them free.

The only one who could help them live.

Until now.

Now their eyes shinned brightly with hope.

A new hope.

He was their new hope.

_'Hope is a good thing.'_ Sarah's voice schoed through his thoughts. _'Probably the best of things. And good things never die.'_

"I'm gonna clobber him." Luffy stated as he finally locked eyes with Gage.

He could no longer hide the anger he so fiercely felt toward Gage.

Anger for the innocent people he had harmed.

Anger for all the pain, the suffering, and the tears that he had caused.

Anger for putting his Nakama; his family... in danger.

Nobody had the right to hurt innocent people... to use them like this...

_'Sarah...'_

"Stupid pirate!" Gage laughed. "I am the most powerful man in the world!"

With that statement said, Gage snapped his fingers. Immediately more hunters appeared, two of them stepping infront of Gage, laughing. Luffy grabbed each one by the head and before anyone knew it, the pirate captain had cracked their skulls together, the sickening sound shattering the silence.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" he cried as they hit the ground.

All at once, a battle royal had broke loose.

"Back off you Crap-Shadows!" Boomed Sanji's voice and suddenly, Hunters were flying in all directions, screaming as they were easily tossed aside.

And just as quickly as it started, the battle royal ended, with Zoro and Sanji standing the the very center of a pile of them.

Gage stood slowly and leaned against the wall for support. His eyes burned with anger toward the pirate and his crew. "How dare you-"

Luffy's fist ended whatever Gage was about to say as it connected with the said man's mouth. Gage flew through the wall he was leaning on, smoke, debris, and dirt billowing throughout the room.

As it all cleared, everyone made out the form of Gage, as he stood tall through the hole made by Luffy. Slowly, they could also make out the enraged sadistic look upon his face as well. "You should have minded your own business and stuck with your own battles."

Luffy glared. "This is my business... my _battle_." He simply stated. "You hurt innocent people. You hurt my Nakama...You hurt my friends... and you hurt Sarah."

"I never hit Sarah." Gage growled.

"You don't have to hit someone to bring tears to their eyes." Luffy said as he cracked his neck, eyes narrowing. "You made Sarah cry, and for that you'll pay."

"You can't hurt me."

"I know I can't hurt you... and I won't hurt you." Luffy stated as he stretched from one side to the next. "I'm gonna clobber you."

"I'd like to see you try, pirate." Gage spat as he raced toward Luffy, launching fireballs at the said pirate as quickly as Luffy's gatling gun.

Luffy ran away from the fireballs. "Hot! Hot hot hot!" He screamed.

The pirate captain ran up the wall ahead of him and kicked off of it, sending himself flying at Gage. "Gum-Gum Whip!"

Gage glared. "Foolish boy." He stated as he melted away.

Luffy screamed, flailing his arms as he flew clear over the spot where Gage was, landing some distance away. He spun around in all directions.

Gage was nowhere to be seen.

"Luffy! Look out!" Screamed Zoro.

Luffy spun back around only to have a boulder the size of Alvida slam full force into him. The pirate captain flew backwards into the wall opposite of the one Gage flew through, rock included.

Laughing erupted from the far side of the room as Gage appeared out of a nowhere, black mist surrounding him. "Face it boy. You can't win this."

On cue, the boulder went flying back through the wall toward Gage. The said man drew his fist back and slammed it into the boulder, completely demolishing it...

And through the flying bits of debris and smoke make by Gage's punch came Luffy's fist. Gage didn't have the time to disappear or even react as it slammed full force into his face, sending him flying as Luffy landed in his spot, grinning even though blood flowed freely from a gash on his head.

A roar of pain erupted from the opposite of the room.

"You'll pay for that!" Gage roared as he ran toward Luffy, fire surrounding his hands.

Luffy took up his fighting stance as Gage swung at him with a flurry of blows that were meant to cause serious bodily harm. And that would be...

If they connected.

Luffy was simply too fast for Gage. And Luffy knew this. He knew that no matter how much power Gage had, if Gage couldn't use it on him then that power was useless.

So in conclusion, Luffy dodged Gage's blows until he found an opening then kicked the said man away from him. Luffy then went on the offensive. He grabbed Gage by the head and slammed his knee into his face repeatedly before kicking him up into the air and slamming his fist into the back of Gage's head, knocking the man clean into the ground below them. As soon as Gage began to stand, Luffy was there. "Gum-Gum Gaitling Gun!"

The fists slammed into Gage repeatedly, pushing him further into the ground. Suddenly, a gust of wind flew from Gage's mouth and sent Luffy flying up toward the ceiling.

Gage had finally managed to block one of Luffy's blows and in the process had staggered to his feet. Luffy landed a few yards away, glaring at Gage, who was now almost covered in blood.

They were at a stand still.

"Wow. He's stronger than I expected him to be." Zoro muttered, arms crossed.

Sanji nodded. "If he can match Luffy like that then I gotta give him credit."

Laughing erupted from below them. Both Sanji and Zoro looked down at the pile of bodies they were standing on to see one hunter laughing.

"Your captain is doomed." The hunter laughed. "Gage hasn't even begun to fight yet."

Sanji's foot connected with the hunters head. "Shut up. Nobody asked you."

"You'll see! You're all done for-"

Nami cracked the man in her face with her staff, sending him flying far away from the pile of bodies. "I thought he told you to shut up?"

"Hey!" Zoro snapped.

"What?" They demanded.

Zoro nodded toward Luffy and Gage.

Their attention went back to the fight at hand. Gage was doing something with the water from the hurricane outside. The water was swirling around his hands to where they looked like tentacles.

Luffy ran at Gage, drawing his fist back. "Gum-Gum Pistol!"

Gage smirked as Luffy's fist flew toward him. With the flick of his wrist, one of the water tentacles flew out and engulfed Luffy's fist. The said pirate captain screamed and tried again. "Gum-Gum Whip!"

Gage laughed as the other tentacle flew toward the pirate captain and engulfed his leg. He then lowered his arms, the water tentacles doing the same before flinging them back up into the air. The water tentacles followed Gage's arms like shadows and rose up into the air, Luffy attached. Gage only smirked as he flung his arms at the ground and watched as Luffy connected with the floor, blood flying from the gash in his head. He raised his arms up again, drew them back, and spun around. The tentacles and Luffy followed the movement and slammed into the wall, more blood flying from Luffy. "You're trapped boy!" Gage laughed as he repeated the said process, creating gashes all along the pirate captains body.

"Oni-Guri!"

"What?!" Screamed Gage as he whipped his head towards Zoro's voice. "No!"

It was too late. Zoro's swords ripped through Gage's water tentacles, ripping them in half. Gage could only watch as the water fell to the floor, lifeless once again. Luffy also connected with the floor... a split second after the water did... and with a loud thud.

Anger engulfed Gage.

"Fool!" Gage cried as he unleashed a gust of wind and whipped it at Zoro, sending the swordsman flying backwards.

Zoro and his swords flew past Sanji and slid across the ground, slowly comming to a stop. Zoro slowly stood up and brushed himself off. He bent down to pick up his swords... and a vein began throbbing in his head.

"That... That son of a bitch..." He growled, vein growing bigger. "He scratched my sword!"

"Then do something-" Sanji started, but he never got to finish that sentence as Gage slammed right into him and they both flew toward Zoro. The swordsman was again knocked off his feet and the trio landed in one big heap of bodies.

Sanji glared at Gage. "I really hate you..." He growled as he kicked the said man off of him with such force, he took some dead hunters with him. A thud echoing off the silent room told Sanji that Gage had connected with the ground some feet away. It made him all tingly inside...

"I've had enough!" Gage roared as he raised his arms up into the air. Water from outside and from what was left on the floor flew into the air. It swirled around him like a snake before breaking off into several small streams. It seemed to happen all at once. All the streams went after Luffy's crew and Sarahs friends, restraining them all.

"What the hell?!" Screamed Zoro.

"Now you cannot interfere in my fight." Hissed Gage.

"Let them go!" Luffy screamed. He raced toward Gage, fist drawn back.

Gage grinned sadistically as the water tentacles reappeared and wrapped themselves completely around Luffy's body, restraining the captain in mid air. No matter how badly Luffy struggled, he couldn't get free. Gage beckoned for Luffy to come closer... and he did just that. Soon, Luffy was levitating off the ground mere feet before Gage, glaring.

Gage grinned. "Give up boy." He said in a very low voice. "You cannot defeat me. I'm stronger than you'll ever be."

"You're wrong!" Luffy said as he strained his muscles to try and break free of Gage's watery prison. The water around him turning red from the many cuts along the pirate captains body due to Gage's recent beating. "I'll beat you! I have too!"

"You can't win you stupid pirate!" Gage grinned as he beckoned for something else to float over. Luffy's face contorted with rage.

"Gage! Let her go!" Luffy screamed as he struggled with all his might.

An unconscious and still badly bleeding Sarah was floating before his eyes.

Gage put his face dangerously close to Luffy's. "Face it. You've lost. You can't even break out of water." He whispered, a sadistic grin plastered on his face. "You're going to die here. You and your pathetic crew. Then... well I guess that'll leave Sarah all to me."

Luffy's eyes widened in horror. A vein appeared on his forehead. It was one of many appearing down his arms and in his neck.

"And we all know how good her skills are... amongst other uses..."

Luffy grit his teeth in anger. He was trembling as the darkness of the warehouse washed over him, every molicule filling him with a rage. A rage new to him.

"She's too good to simply let go. She'll stay with me for all eternity. Sarah is mine-"

A scream erupted from Luffy's throat. One that the likes of his crew have never heard before. One they couldn't even imagine comming from their captains mouth.

"SARAH IS MORE THAN A MERE POSESSION!" He roared.

A vein began to throb on Gage's forehead. It was becomming harder to restrain Luffy!

'This is impossible! He's not strong enough to break free from my elemental trap!'

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TREAT HER LIKE THAT!"

Bits of the water restraining Luffy were beginning to levitate away from him.

Gage raised both hands toward Luffy, the vein along his head growing.

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Luffy roared. "I'LL GET YOU GAGE! I SWEAR YOU'LL PAY!"

Gage's hands balled up into fists, veins popping out of his arms.

'I can't hold him...!'

"_**I'LL NEVER LET YOU HURT ANYONE EVER AGAIN**_!"

With that, the water was thrown from Luffy, flying in every direction and forming new holes in the surrounding walls. Sweat and blood rolled off the captains body as he stood tall, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

Gage stood completely still, a look of pure horror plastered to his face. "Im...Impossible... nobody's ever broken free from that! NOBODY!"

Luffy began slowly walking toward Gage, cracking his bloody knuckles. "You can't defeat me Gage. You're done."

"No... not yet!" Gage stuttered as he slowly regained his composure. "You're forgetting about this."

And with that Sarah slowly floated before Gage.

"Go ahead, pirate. Hit me."

Luffy froze. He couldn't swing at Gage.

Not while an innocent person was in the way.

"Well..?" He taunted.

And with that, a stick connected with the back of Gage's head, causing him to lose his concentration on the water streams holding everyone.

They were all free.

"What are you waiting for Luffy?" Nami hollared. "Hit him!"

Luffy ran toward Gage. Just as Gage got to his feet, Luffy's foot connected with his face, blood flying from Gage's nose. The said man flew a few yards before landing on his back.

Slowly, Luffy's crew got to their feet. They all surrounded Gage.

"Give up Gage." Nami stated.

"It's over." Sanji agreed.

Gage's eyes darted back and fourth for any means of attack or escape. When he found none, he sighed. That sigh slowly became a laugh which only got louder. Soon, he was laughing so hard he was crying.

Zoro became wary. "What's so funny?" He demanded.

Gage only continued to laugh.

Growling, Zoro held the blade up to Gage's throat. "I said 'what's so funny'?"

"You are!" Gage chirped as the ceiling to the entire building was ripped off.

Everyone's eyes shot up as the ceiling was sucked into the vortex above them. Nami's eyes narrowed. Where the eye of the hurricane was supposed to be was completely black.

"What is that thing?!" She hollared over the roar of the wind and rain.

Gage grinned as he raised his arms. "Your ticket home!" He stated loudly.

Suddenly, everyone of Luffy's crew members was lifted up into the air.

Luffy's eyes darted to Sarah. "NO! SARAH!"

Gage grabbed Luffy by the scruff of his vest and pulled him down.

"LUFFY!" Screamed Nami as they were sucked up into the vortex.

Luffy's head shot toward Nami's voice. He could only watch in horror as his nakama disappeared before his very eyes. "No..."

Gage grabbed Luffy by the hair and spun the captain about to face him.

"Sarah is mine boy! SHE IS MINE FOREVER AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

Gage let go of Luffy, who was quickly sucked further into the air. Sarah was becomming nothing more than a dot.

He tried to stretch his arms to her, but his arms were only sucked further into the vortex.

"**SARAH**!" Luffy screamed. "**I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN**!"

"_**I'LL COME BACK TO YOU! I'LL FIND YOU! I PROMISE**_!"

And in a blinding flash of light, Luffy and his crew vanished along with the storm...

TBC

I know I know... endings like these suck. But, this isn't an ending. I was just going to keep on going with the story but I figured It'd be too long then and a bit more interresting if there was a part 2... and if that part 2 took place in the one piece world. I'm kinda curious as to what those of you who have read this story to the 'end' think about this twist, and the story in general. Any suggestions and/ or comments? Please review. And no flames please? If you don't or didn't like it then you didn't have to read it. Thanks to all for reading and look for the first chapter in "A Million Miles From Home: To The Sea" soon.


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